To You Far and Beyond
by reallyafairy
Summary: Set a few years after Go! Princess Precure. Kanata is entering into an arranged marriage to become king of Hope Kingdom, but Pafu, Aroma and Towa have other plans involving a certain Princess of Flowers. [Prince Kanata x Haruka Haruno/Cure Flora]
1. Chapter 1

To you Far and Beyond

Set a few years after Go! Princess Precure. Kanata is being forced into an arranged marriage to become king of Hope Kingdom, but Pafu and Aroma have other plans involving a certain Princess of Flowers.

He had made an honorable choice, but he knew he ultimately wouldn't live happily ever after; like the fairy tales Haruka had loved so much. Kanata had a duty to the people of Hope Kingdom and their happiness was much more important to him than his own. He was their prince after all, and with his father's health declining rapidly he knew he would be taking over as King of the Hope Kingdom soon. It is a universally acknowledged fact that a king must take a queen. The prince hadn't given much thought to who he would marry, he let his advisors choose a wife for him. Some princess from a neighboring kingdom, one that had never been taken over by Dyspear Kanata had a duty to continue the royal bloodline after all. And a Prince had to marry a princess.

 _Princess…_ He thought sadly. No. He didn't want to interfere with her life. Not again. He already made her miss out on being a normal teenager by giving her the dress-up key, effectively sealing her fate as a warrior who had to fight to save his kingdom. A place she had no connection with and definitely no reason to fight for as hard as she did. She had given it her very all as Cure Flora, she even became a Grand Princess- the highest title one could earn in Hope Kingdom, one that can only earned by the Precure.

 _She's so strong, kind and beautiful. She always has been. Ever since the first time we met._ Kanata shook his head, trying to push thoughts of Haruka out of his mind. His feelings for her only grew every time they encountered one another. She was his new dream. All he had hoped for was her happiness. Such a beautiful person, inside and out, didn't deserve to have her future taken from her. Not again. She had a purpose in the human world, he was sure. To live a normal life and be the beautiful princess she had become. He didn't have any direct contact with her any more, but he had asked Pafu and Aroma to watch over her. To make sure Dyspear didn't target her again. He may not be able to be involved in her life, but he had to know she was safe. She was his dream after all.

"Prince Kanata," Aroma's voice drew him from his thoughts. "Are you all right-roma?"

"O-oh, sorry" the purple haired prince replied. "Yes, I'm fine. Just lost in my thoughts.

Aroma frowned. With Kanata's recent engagement he had been thinking about Haruka now more than ever. "We need your approval of the china pattern for the engagement party-roma."

"Yes, of course." Kanata absentmindedly looked over the sketch that Aroma was carrying. "This looks fine, thank you Aroma. You may go."

"Prince Kanata, i-is there anything you need to talk about-roma?" The bird butler asked, worried if he was overstepping his boundaries.

"You can guess well enough, Aroma." Kanata smiled at him sadly. Right. They'd already had this discussion a dozen times. But Aroma still didn't understand. Kanata needed to marry a princess, and Cure Flora was a _Grand_ Princess. The butler tried telling the prince Haruka's feelings for him, as they appeared to be obvious to everyone but the prince himself, but he wouldn't listen. Kanata was convinced her life was better without him. Aroma, Pafu and Princess Towa disagreed.

"Very well, Prince Kanta-roma" Aroma said before flying off, leaving Kanata to his melancholy thoughts of his lost love. He had a few matters to discuss with Princess Towa.

Towa was more than angry when she learned of Kanata's engagement to a woman neither of them had ever met. He was her brother! The person who she was closest to in the entire kingdom. And he was getting married to someone he never even met!? The princess of the flames knew of arranged marriages but they were so outdated they rarely happened any more! And her brother had made the decision to have an arranged marriage when his true soul mate was just a world a way. It was ridiculous! It was illogical! And a Grand Princess would make a much better queen than some random princess from some random kingdom. Even though she was from the human world Haruka's belief in dreams was so strong she fit in perfectly with the citizens of Hope Kingdom. Towa knew Haruka and her brother were _meant_ to be but he could just be so stubborn sometimes.

"Princess Towa," a soft voiced pulled her from her calligraphy, which wasn't going very well any way. "There's something very important I need to talk to you about-roma."

"Yes Aroma, I know what you have to say already." Towa said, turning to him and sighing.

"Princess Towa! We have to do something at on- uff!" Pafu came running through the door until she tripped on one of her ears. Towa chuckled and walked over to her, kneeling down.

"Aroma, Pafu, I know what you need to talk to me about" Towa said, tying back Pafu's ears.

"No Princess Towa! She'll be here in three days-pafu!" Pafu cried with panic in her voice.

"W-what? Onii-sama's fiancee? But they weren't supposed to be meeting for another week! How, why? What is the meaning of this?" The princess of the Hope Kingdom asked her servants.

"What do you mean three days-roma? We don't have the details worked out for the engagement party yet! Why, Prince Kanata only just approved the design for the china! There's still the catering, the music, the-"

"No, not the party-pafu!" Pafu cut off her brother. "She's coming to the Hope Kingdom to confirm their engagement and make a public announcement on behalf of her kingdom. And she'll be here in only three days from today-pafu! Princess Towa we have to do something-pafu! What about Haruka-pafu?" Pafu looked at Towa with pleading puppy dog eyes.

"This sounds suspicious," Towa contemplated. "The princess already officially accepted onii-sama's proposal in writing a week ago. The two weren't supposed to meet until the engagement party, why the sudden change of plans? This isn't normal for an arranged marriage… Does my brother know about this?"

"I don't know-pafu. I'm just as surprised as you are Princess Towa-pafu."

"The Prince doesn't know this-roma," Aroma confirmed. "I had just spoken with him-roma. He would have asked about her arrival-roma."

Towa turned her back to the royal fairies in contemplation. She knew what she was planning to do was extremely punishable, but if her suspicions were right, the Kingdom was in grave danger. The portal between Hope Kingdom and the human world was only to be used for emergencies. But what constituted an emergency, exactly? To Princess Towa, this was an emergency.

"Pafu, Aroma," the scarlet princess said slowly. "I once again must ask too much of you. You are to go to the human world, find Haruka Haruno and bring her back to Hope Kingdom. As Princess of the Hope Kingdom I give you permission to enter their world."

"But.. what will we do once Haruka is back here-roma? What if she doesn't want to come with us-roma?" Aroma asked hesitantly.

Towa smiled. "I think all we'll have to do is give these two some time alone together and they'll work things out how we imagine they will. And of course she'll come back, you two have been watching her right? She looks at her dress-up key every day, and I know she's thinking of my brother every time. Those two have a connection. She has to know something is going on."

"Yes-pafu! We will bring Haruka Haruno to Hope Kingdom-pafu!" Pafu saluted, accepting their mission gladly.

"Thank you, now get going you two. We haven't any time to waste!" Towa smiled at them, her hands on her hips. She might be young but she had all the leadership qualities of a queen.

The two fairies nodded and flew away. Towa sighed after they were out of sight. She figured there was a 50% chance their plan would work out, but only time would tell.


	2. Chapter 2

While school and education was always important to Haruka, princess lessons weren't regular classes taught at university. She had gone any way, to appease her parents They never really believed in her dream.

 _Not like Kanata had, any way…_ Haruka thought nostalgically.

And of course Haruka grew out of the idea of becoming a literal princess. As she graduated middle school and high school she continued to research real princesses and learned that there's a lot more to being a princess than just living in a castle and marrying a prince. And with her parents persistant demand that she attends college, she chose that at least if she was going to have to do something she was unsure about she'd at least continue to study strong women and feminist studies. And Haruka found that many princesses were deeply devoted to charity work. And even more than official princesses, Haruka admired a lot of women who didn't have royal titles but were still doing their best to make the world a better place.

So when she realized she wouldn't be an _official_ princess, Haruka decided she would become a woman with the strength, kindness and inner beauty of a princess. She'd already gotten a taste of the life of a fairy tale princess- the life she had thought she wanted- but the delusion from Dyspear was so lacking of love and friendship. How could anyone want a life like that? Her friends were what made her time at Noble Academy unforgettable.

Never in her whole life had Haruka met a group of people who believed in her and loved her so much. Then to top it all off they became Precure together and saved the world! Then all so suddenly as it started it was over. Sometimes Haruka wondered if it was ever even real, if she had dreamed up the whole thing. How was she supposed to adjust to normal life once their powers were no longer needed? How was she supposed to live her life without him in it?

 _Oh..._ thought Haruka, she hadn't realized she was crying until now. _It's okay! He's doing his best to make his dream come true and I'm doing my best to make my dream come true! He wants to be a wonderful king, and I'm sure he will be. If only our paths hadn't drifted apart like they did._

While her and Kanata's path only crossed for a second, her friendship with Minami and Kirara was just as strong as ever. Of course chasing their dreams had drawn them all to different corners of the globe, but that didn't mean they couldn't find fifteen minutes to spare every few days to Skype. Kirara was becoming rather popular in Paris and was keeping her popularity in Japan. Breaking the international barrier was hard enough to do for an idol or an actor, but for a model it was even more difficult. Minami was working long days as an intern for a marine veterinarian in Australia. She knew her dream would take her there someday, but it was so drastically different from home the princess of the sea was having a hard time adjusting. Haruka cheered her on and reminded her that every dream starts out difficult until you can get to where you really want to be.

As for where Haruka really wanted to be, she wasn't entirely sure. She was happy with her university classes and had moved to the smaller town of Kibougahana to work in a flower shop over the summer. She was twenty years old and had no idea what her purpose was in the world.

 _In_ any _world_. The princess of flowers thought, looking over at the crystalized dress up key that sat on her desk. The time she felt most alive in her entire life was when she was fighting as a Precure. If she ever had the slightest chance to go back to Hope Kingdom she would take it in a moment. She missed Towa, of course, the only friend she couldn't keep in contact with made her feel guilty even though there was nothing she could do about it. But… she never did get to tell Kanata her feelings for him. Feelings she still had despite not seeing him for years. Somewhere in her heart, Haruka knew they would meet again.

"Haruka, could you come here a second?" One of the owners of the flower shop called out.

"A-ah! Yes, coming!" Haruka said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She walked from the back office to the main room. "Kaoruko, what do you need my—"

"Haruka-roma!"

"Haruka-pafu!"

Haruka stood shocked and frozen until her eyes widened. "E-ehh? W-what are these stuffed animals doing here! K-kaoruko! I'll take these to the lost and found in case a child comes in looking for them!" Haruka said, bending down to pick up Pafu.

"Haruka, it's okay. I know who you are. Cure Flora." The older woman smiled at Haruka.

At that she immediately snapped to attention, waving her arms in front of her face. "W-what?! But how could you—what are you—!"

"Kaoruko was once one of the strongest Precure of all time- roma!" Aroma said with admiration in his voice. "She took down the Desertarians and Dume all by herself as Cure Flower-roma! She was incredible-roma!"

"What?! Kaoruko you! You were a Precure! You knew I was a Precure! How—why didn't you tell me?!" Haruka looked at her with disbelief and also a strange kind of hope.

"You reminded me a lot of my grand-daughter, Tsubomi, who was also a Precure. I saw you and recognized the Precure spirit in you, my dear."

"B-but why didn't you tell me sooner! I have so many questions, there's so much I want to know about you!" She looked at Kaoruko with determination before remembering the fairies' presence. "A-and Pafu! Aroma! Why are you here?! I haven't heard anything from Hope Kingdom in years and you show up now, completely out of nowhere? What's wrong? Something must be wrong!"

Aroma and Pafu looked at each other briefly thinking the same thing. _Uh-oh. Princess Towa didn't give us a story to tell Haruka._

"I-it's the prince-pafu!" Pafu said quickly and nervously. So far so good.

"Kanata?" Haruka said softly, a bit of pain in her voice. "What happened to him? Is he okay?"

"Prince Kanata is fine-roma!" The little bird butler knew he had to say as little as possible, LIE as little as possible, to get Haruka to Hope Kingdom. "He just… H-he just.."

"Prince Kanata needs to see you at once-pafu!" Pafu quickly finished her brother's sentence. Well, there goes trying to lie as little as possible. "Prince Kanata and Princess Towa have a problem only Cure Flora can solve!"

At that Haruka's eyes dimmed. "I'm not Cure Flora any more. I'm just Haruka Haruno now."

Kaoruko took her hand. "Haruka, Cure Flora isn't just a costume you put on. Cure Flora is part of who you are. Even if you are no longer fighting evil you cannot stop being Cure Flora. She is who you are and you will always be here. Do you understand?"

Haruka wasn't entirely sure she understood, but she had an idea of what the older woman meant, so she nodded. "Pafu, Aroma! I'm ready to go with you to Hope Kingdom!"

"Wahoo-roma!"

"Wahoo-pafu!" the fairies cheered.

"Oh wait! Let me go get one thing!" Haruka ran back to her computer desk in the office to grab her dress-up key. She arrived just in time to see it glitter back to life and regain its pink color that had been lost years ago.

 _This is it_. The princess of the flowers thought. _I'm really really going to Hope Kingdom again._

Returning to the store room with dress-up key in hand, Haruka looked to Kaoruko.

"Kaoruko, I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly—"

"Don't give it a second thought, dear. My daughter and her husband and their children will be back to run the shop soon. Go. Your kingdom needs you."

"Right!" Haruka said, nodding to Cure Flower. "Aroma, Pafu. Let's go!"

 _I'm coming, Kanata. Whatever you need, I'll be there soon._ With a flash of light and petals, they were in Hope Kingdom.

Hey everyone, I'm pretty new to writing fanfiction. I mean I've had ideas forever but never really brought them to life. Anyway, Go Princess is probably my favorite series of Precure and it holds a really special place in my heart so I really wanted to try to write something for it. I'm a busy college student and finals are coming up but I'll try to update over the weekends! Thank you and I hope you like it =)


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow! The palace is just as beautiful as ever!" Haruka said, twirling around the foyer.

"Sh! Keep your voice down-roma! We don't want anyone to hear you!" Aroma warned, pressing a feather to his beak.

"Huh? But I thought Prince Kanata asked me to be here. Wouldn't he have told other people I was coming?" Haruka cocked her head to the side.

"A-ah yes! He did roma! B-but-"

"The King is very sick and needs his rest so it's best that we're quiet as to not disturb him pafu!" The maid finished her brother's sentence.

Haruka's brow furrowed "The King is sick? Will he be okay?"

"W-we're not sure pafu" Pafu and Aroma frowned. The fairies knew the king wasn't going to make it through his sickness, but now was not the time to tell Haruka. The King promised Kanata to make it to his wedding, another reason for the prince to request an arranged marriage.

The Flower Princess's frown deepened, but she perked up when she remembered the reason the fairies brought her to Hope Kingdom in the first place. "Pafu, Aroma, I need to see Kanata right away."

"E-eh? I-I mean! Of course- roma! Right this way-roma!" The royal fairies led Haruka up a set of marble stairs, to a set of glass doors that led to a balcony overlooking the kingdom. And there he was.

 _Kanata…_ Haruka slowly opened the doors.

"What do you mean you brought her to see him right away? Why didn't you bring her to _me_ first?!" Towa yelled exasperated.

"W-we just did what you said for us to do-pafu!" The maid said, covering her eyes with her ears.

"I didn't think she'd actually say yes right away! I thought I would have to go there myself and bring her here. I should have gone with you." The flame princess said, remorsefully, then chuckled. "I should have known though; Haruka would do anything for onii-sama in a heartbeat."

"So what should we do roma?" The little bird butler asked, concerned.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now but wait." Towa sighed, sitting on a large white couch. "I just hope he doesn't tell her. And if he does tell her then… I hope she'll listen to me."

"Kanta…" At first Kanata didn't believe what he was hearing. He had imagined her voice so many times by now he was sure he was imagining this too. It wasn't until she said his name again that he turned with wide eyes to look at her.

Her hair had grown past her shoulders, but she still wore it in the style she always had since she was a little girl. She was taller now and had a more womanly figure, but her aqua eyes still shone with hope, just as they had the day they met. _Has it really been that long? She must be at least twenty now. She's…_

"Beautiful" the prince said aloud, his heart skipping a beat, a scarlet blush immediately coloring his cheeks. Under any other circumstances, he would have cleared his throat and apologize. But this was _Haruka_. The amazing girl he believed he had to leave behind. And she was here _now_. He didn't care how, just that she was there; standing right five feet away from him.

Even though he had yet to say anything of substance, Kanata walked towards her. Haruka just stared at him wide eyed, an equally deep blush on her face. She stood as still as a porcelain doll, too shocked to move. When they were less than a foot apart, the prince reached out and touched her scorching cheek, as if to make sure she was actually there and not just a dream. His hand lingered on her cheek for what felt like a lifetime.

Haruka swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. "K-kanata?" She choked out, breaking the prince from the trance she unintentionally put him in. Her arms were glued to her sides and her pulse was thudding in her ears.

Kanata pulled his hand from her face and took a few steps back, regaining his composure. "Haruka," he said her name with so much warmth and sincerity in his tone. There was silence for a few seconds until he asked "what are you- how did you get here?"

"P-Pafu and Aroma brought me! T- they said there was something you needed me f-for" the flower princess said, shakily. She played with a strand of her long her nervously but she couldn't look away from his wisteria eyes.

Kanata frowned, the memory of his arranged marriage returning to him. Funny, he should have been thinking of his soon-to-be bride, but all he could think of was Haruka, whether she was with him or not. "Yes, I suppose there is something I need to talk to you about." He said slowly, picking his words carefully. "But… since my mind has been wavering as of late" _only the past two minutes really_ "I'm not sure how I'll handle this situation."

Haruka smiled with determination, her hands raised into fists. "Well whatever it is I can help you!" She said excitedly, then her tone softened, becoming more serious. "You know I'm always here for you, Kanata. Even if I'm a world away."

Kanata raised his eyebrows "b-but I've asked so much of you already. I asked you to risk your life and fight for a land you've never even heard of before. And you did, without hesitation. Why? Why do you risk so much for me?" Guilt clouded his thoughts, he knew if she had known about his engagement she wouldn't want anything to do with him.

"You're the first person to ever believe in me and my dream." Haruka said slowly and genuinely. "My friends from elementary school and even my parents didn't believe in me. But it's because of you that I am where I am today! It's because of you that I tried so hard to get in to Noble Academy and met my best friends and saved the world. I'm graduating college a year early. I've done so much in my life I never would have been able to do if you hadn't believed in me, right at that moment and throughout my entire life, Kanata. You saved me from despair so many times… I should be asking you why you believe in me so much, the princess of buds."

"How could anyone not believe in a dream so strong and pure? Your dream is everything to you. You try so hard at everything you do so you can get closer to your dream. You're not a bud any more, Haruka. You've become a beautiful flower and you've earned it. You did this yourself."

She smiled softly. "I don't see it that way."

The prince reached out to take the flower princess's hand "Haruka, I-"

But she ran away quickly, not even noticing he was about to touch her, until she reached the edge of the balcony. "Wow! You can see all of Hope Kingdom from here! This is amazing!"

Kanata sighed, she always was easily distracted, but in an endearing way filled with childlike wonder. He met her at the edge of the balcony. "Yes, it really is incredible." He said, his eyes focused on her and not the view.

"You love your kingdom so much. I bet you spend a lot of time here."

The prince was once again reminded of his harsh reality, taken away from the paradise where it was just him and her. "I do, I love Hope Kingdom more than almost anything. But this situation, this choice I have to make, I must choose between what makes me happiest and what is easiest and best for the future of the kingdom and everyone who lives here."

Haruka tore her eyes away from the beautiful kingdom to really look at the man next to her. He too had grown since they last saw each other. He was no longer the bony teenage boy he had been. He gained a few more inches and his white vest that was casual yet elegant showed off his toned physique.

"T-that sounds like it would be a hard choice for anyone." She stuttered out, a blush returning to her face.

"Yes, and I have only a week to make this choice. And before today I was sure what I was going to do. But since I've been having second thoughts about it, now I'm not entirely sure." The prince looked away from her.

"That makes sense," she said. "This decision will affect the future of your kingdom. Whatever you decide you should go into it with your entire heart. Don't feel bad for being conflicted."

"But how could making a selfish decision be good for the kingdom, even if it's what my heart wants? How could it be good for-"

 _For you_ he wanted to say, but he stopped.

"You know, when one of my favorite princesses couldn't decide between honoring her family and doing what he father wanted, she decided that her duty was to her heart. And her heart lead her to the right choice. And I think yours will too, Kanata." She smiled at him.

 _Did someone tell her of the situation before she came here, or is she just reading my mind?_

He laughed "Mulan was a very wise princess."

Haruka's eyes brightened, she wasn't expecting him to know the character he was talking about. Did they even have Disney movies in Hope Kingdom?

"Yes! She was! And she listened to her heart and saved an entire country! Just like how I listened to my heart and helped save Hope Kingdom! So I'm certain if you listen to your heart, Kanata, you can make the right decision too."

The prince smiled and shook his head slightly. "It won't be that simple, Haruka. But thank you."

"Well of course it's not going to be that simple! If it were that simple you wouldn't be questioning your decision. That's why I was brought here: to help you with whatever you decide. Okay?" The flower princess smiled and placed her hand on top of his, a light pink blush on her face.

Kanata only smiled at her. "Yes, I believe you will."

Hi everyone. Finals are next week so please wish me luck! I'm not sure how quickly this story will progress, it's something I've been wanting to write for a long time and I don't want it to feel rushed. I toyed with a lot of different ideas before finishing this chapter because I want it to be just right! Thank you for reading and I appreciate your feedback a lot!

To the person who asked if there will be future generations in this story: I'm not totally sure? I haven't given it much thought. Right now it's unlikely.


	4. Chapter 4

Haruka and Kanata stood at the balcony for what could have been hours, making up for the time they had lost together. Haruka told him about university, how she worked so hard to be able to be in the honors college and be ahead of schedule with her credits. She told him about working at the flower shop at the Hanasaki flower shop over the summer with Cure Flower. Talking to Kanata so openly was something Haruka had dreamed of for so long, and now that it was finally happening she never wanted the conversation to end. It took every ounce of her willpower not to lean her head on his shoulder when their gaze shifted to the kingdom. Yes, what she wanted most was to talk to him again, but now that she was actually with him she couldn't help but want to embrace him and drink in his honey sweet scent; or place her hand on his cheek like he had done to her earlier.

The Prince's eyes kept darting from the Flower Princess's eyes to her lips throughout their conversation. Kanata told her about everything that had happened in Hope Kingdom the past six years, holding back on a few select events. He told her about his sick father and how it looked like he wasn't going to make it through this illness. The Prince had been taking his father's place in meeting with delegates from all around the kingdom and impressed everyone he met with his poise and wisdom.

"I'm so happy for you, Kanata" The Princess of Flowers said, smiling at him. She took his hand in both of hers. "You've made so much progress toward your dream."

The Prince's heart skipped a beat at the contact. He looked at her, puzzled. "But Haruka, that isn't my dream."

She cocked her head, surprised. "Oh? Then what is?"

Kanata smiled at her, his eyes filled with an emotion all too familiar to Haruka. "Haruka, my dream is for-"

"Haruka!" Princess Towa burst through the doors to the balcony, running to embrace her friend. "Aroma and Pafu told me you were here but I couldn't believe it until I saw you for myself. It's been so long, I'm so happy to see you!"

Haruka awkwardly accepted the surprise attack hug. "I-it's nice to see you too, Towa."

"Onii-sama you wouldn't mind if Haruka and I were to have afternoon tea together, would you?" The Flame Princess turned toward her brother, linking her arm with Haruka's.

"But Kanata-"

"Well, I-"

"Splendid! Then it's settled!." Towa interrupted them both, dragging a reluctant Haruka behind her. "Haruka and I will see you later, Onii-sama!"

"Hey wait, Towa!" Haruka tried to reason with her friend as they walked past the doors.

Kanata reached out a hand trying to stop them but it was no use. He smiled sadly, it was for the best they be separated. For now, any way. He needed some time alone to consider every new angle of the situation.

Haruka carefully poured tea into Towa's cup and then her own. Pafu had offered to make the tea, but Haruka insisted, saying she needed to make sure her tea ceremony skills weren't rusty.

"Is it okay?" She asked as Towa sipped her tea.

"It's absolutely perfect, Haruka." The Flame Princess smiled warmly at her friend.

"Ahh I'm so glad! I haven't made tea like this in so long so I wasn't sure if-"

"Haruka I'm the one who told Pafu and Aroma to bring you to Hope Kingdom!" Towa blurted out, immediately covering her mouth.

The Princess of Flowers cocked her head to the side. "What? But.. but Pafu and Aroma said Kanata needed me. Why.. why would you…?"

"My brother definitely _does_ need you, Haruka!" Towa reassured her friend quickly. She didn't mean for the reveal to go this way, but she was awful at keeping secrets and lying. Leaving Haruka in the dark for so long was just too much sneaking around for her to handle. "He just… Is in a difficult situation right now and didn't want you to get involved."

"But if he didn't want me to get involved then why did you bring me here?"

Towa sighed, refusing to look Haruka in the eye. "I… I can't tell you all the details. It wouldn't be fair to you or Onii-sama for me to do so. But I think… I think Dyspear is trying to control my brother."

"Dyspear?!" Haruka's eyes widened in shock and horror. "But but but but! We defeated her years ago! And Close was the only one left, but he said he wouldn't do anything! How? Why are you so sure?"

"Because he's completely giving into despair, Haruka!" Towa told her friend, sternly. "Saying he has no choice? That this is what he _has_ to do for the sake of the kingdom? Dyspear did the same thing to me! She used my dream against me and turned me into a weapon. Dyspear knows my brother cares about Hope Kingdom more than anything, it's the perfect opportunity for her to come in and take over him. He's entirely given up on everything he wants. He's so unhappy, Haruka, and all he does is deny it. I'm so worried for him." Tears rolled down Towa's cheeks. She had meant to keep her composure, but remembering how she herself gave into despair and seeing the same thing happen slowly to her brother was becoming too much for her to bear. Haruka was the only one who could possibly understand.

"But… Kanata told me he hadn't made a decision yet. I don't even know what he needs to decide but-"

"Wait he told you that?" Towa's head snapped up. Haruka nodded in response. "Haruka! Onii-sama has been adamant about his choice the minute it was brought up! He wouldn't listen to a word I had to say. I tried to tell him there were other options, that he didn't need to do this. But all he would do was say he didn't have a choice, that it was the only option for him. And he's been so depressed because of it! He's barely been eating, I know he hasn't been sleeping well. It's like all the light left his eyes. Like he had entirely given up on his dream.

But then, Haruka, then you came. And I wouldn't have asked Pafu and Aroma to bring you here if there had been any other option. I couldn't get through to him, and then whole week we thought he had to make the decision turned into three days. He doesn't know that bit yet, but still! I knew if anyone could get through to him, to make him change his mind and see what he would be giving up, it would be you, Haruka."

Haruka tried to absorb everything Towa had told her. "But… why me? We haven't interacted in almost six years. He's so so important to me, more than I can describe, but why would you need me?"

"Haruka, I probably shouldn't be telling you this… Oh, I've already broken enough rules today, what's the harm of one more?" Towa sighed. "He's been watching over you, Haruka. He still thinks about you every day. I even took his private journal-"

"You what?!"

"I put it back right away! And I only did so because it was absolutely necessary! I had to make sure my suspicions were right. And they were! Haruka I was absolutely right and it made so much sense! Why onii-sama gave in to despair after making the decision, why he's been so depressed. You know, today is the most I've seen him smile in a month? It's because of you, Haruka!"

A deep blush colored the Flower Princess's face. _He really cares about me that much? I… I mean that much to him? After all this time…_

"Th-then how did you know I would drop everything and come to Hope Kingdom?"

Towa gave Haruka a knowing smile. "Haruka, you never were exactly subtle about your feelings for my brother. You do know that, don't you?"

Haruka's blush became impossibly deeper. "I-I-I-I I don't know what you're talking about! I-I'm certainly not in love with Kanata! No! He's just the first person to ever believe in me, and was always there for me when I needed him, and gave me the power to protect my and everyone else's dreams, and even when we lost contact for years, I still thought about him every day and remembered how much he believed in me and cared about me and wanted me to succeed! And yeah I'm totally touched that he was watching over me all this time even though he knew he couldn't have any contact with me but I'm NOT-"

"A princess doesn't lie, Haruka." Towa interrupted her rant.

And with that Haruka slumped in her chair. "I've been seriously in love with him ever since I was thirteen and it never stopped."

The Flame Princess squealed.

"B-b-b-b-but you cannot tell him that, Towa! Please! I have no idea what he'll think or say and-"

"Haruka I've wanted you two to get together for so long. Trust me, I would never do anything to compromise it. I am your biggest cheerleader."

Haruka straightened in her chair and sighed out of relief. "So… do you think he likes me, too?"

"Well, I did read his journal, but I'm not going to tell you _everything_."

"He mentioned me in his journal?"

"I already said that he did, but yes, he did. Any way, I could tell from the moment he saw you today that he felt something very strong for you."

"You were watching us?! But we were on the balcony for so long! Were you there the whole time?" Haruka leaned across the table, her teacup long forgotten.

"Not the whole time. Just long enough to see him touch your cheek and call you beautiful and look into your eyes for five whole minutes. Honestly, if the palace were to catch fire at that moment, I doubt he would have noticed," Towa chuckled.

Haruka shifted awkwardly in her seat. "A-and there hasn't been anyone else, right? We haven't even talked in so long. H-he hasn't d-d-dated any other girls, has he? He's so handsome and kind and a prince on top of it all! Of course he has." She frowned deeply.

"Haruka, he hasn't even looked at other girls. Not at all," Towa assured her. Which wasn't exactly a lie. Sure he might be engaged, but he hasn't seen his fiancee. And he definitely didn't have any romantic interest in her.

Haruka perked up like a freshly watered flower. "So then what exactly is it you want me to do, Towa?"

"It's really simple, actually. You and my brother just need to enter a romantic relationship."

Haruka had taken the wrong moment to sip her now lukewarm tea, because she nearly spat it out at Towa's words. "Wh-what?" She coughed.

"Just spend some time with him and be yourself! Everything will work out, I promise! And then he'll see he does have a choice in the decision he has to make and we won't have to worry about Dyspear coming back and everyone will live happily ever after," Towa nodded, completely confident in her plan.

"You know, I still have no idea what this super important decision is," Haruka grumbled.

"But…" Towa prompted.

"But I want to help Kanata just as much as you do. But I'm not going to do anything weird to make him fall in love with me like you said!"

Towa laughed "Haruka, all you have to do is be yourself! And spend time with him. And also remember how stubborn he can be. But that's it."

Haruka rose from her chair. "Ya know, when you put it that way it sounds much easier. And if it will save Kanata from despair, then I'll give it everything I've got."

Towa hugged her friend. "I was hoping you would say that, Haruka. Thank you."

 _I just really hope he actually gives this a chance and doesn't tell her right away._

Thank you for being so patient with me! I'd been so much busier than I expected to be. Moving back home has been a lot harder than I thought it would be and I'm training for a promotion at my job AND I start classes Monday. But I already have the next chapter planned out, thanks to my awesome friend. Again, I appreciate your feedback so much. It totally motivates me to write. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

The prince left the balcony after his sister's sudden kidnapping of Haruka, choosing to walk through the rose garden to clear his head. It was probably for the best that he not be around her for too long; he had made his decision about the engagement months ago. Haruka had been so successful in the human world, who was he to take away everything she had worked so hard for? And above all else, even considering asking her to _marry him_ after not having any contact at all for six years- that was the craziest part of Kanata's recent descent into indecision and madness and

 _Despair_

Just the thought of the word sent a shiver up Kanata's spine. Even though it had been so long, his dream had still been to always see Haruka smiling. If securing Haruka's happiness meant he would have to endure a life away from her, then he would do it. How could he even think to ask her to give up everything she had in the human world and move to Hope Kingdom permanently. But if he knew that his dream was safe- that _Haruka_ was safe- then why was he feeling so hopeless and lost? Haruka was too important to him to let his own selfish desires impact her life any more.

"Kanata-sama roma?" Kanata turned his head to see the small bird sitting on a rose bush next to him. "I have news regarding the arrival of your fiancee roma."

Kanata frowned, but kept his tone calm. "Yes, Aroma?"

"W-while the original plan was for the engagement party to be held next week… Y-your fiancee will actually be arriving in three days roma."

Kanata kept his composure, despite the anger and shock he was feeling. "Why the sudden change in plans?"

"We're not.. Entirely sure roma." Aroma frowned, looking his master in the eye. Aroma had been with Kanata through the most difficult and saddest moments in his life. From losing his sister, to losing his entire Kingdom to Dysdark. But the sadness in the prince's eyes was so unlike it had been in the past.

"I see." The prince said, emotionless. "Aroma, please inform them that their sooner arrival is unnecessary and we will have the party in one week, as we agreed."

"Yes, your majesty roma" Aroma turned to leave, until he stopped. "Prince Kanata, you don't have to-"

"That will be all, Aroma, thank you."

The little butler sighed. "Yes, your majesty." He flew back to the castle.

Kanata closed his eyes tightly. "It's time." He said aloud. "I have to tell her."

OuOuO

"Towa-chi I can't believe you didn't tell Minamin and me right away," Kirara frowned. "I mean, if you brought Harharu to Hope Kingdom, it has to be really important. Remember? We weren't supposed to go back there ever again."

Even if she was a dimension away, Haruka couldn't bail on her friends for their weekly Skype call. Technology in Hope Kingdom may have worked differently than it did in the human world, but they still had magic to supplement it all. Towa had advised her against the call at first, until Haruka convinced her that if Dyspear really was coming back it would take all four of the Princess Precure to stop her.

"I thought Haruka alone could save my brother from despair." Towa said, sheepishly. "But I may not have thought through that plan very well."

"What do you think we should do?" Minami asked. "If Dyspear really is back, it wouldn't be a bad choice to bring us to Hope Kingdom as well."

"Minami's right," Yui said. Even though she never became a Precure, she was still a valuable part of the team and both Haruka and Towa thought it appropriate for her to be included in this conversation. "The Precure are supposed to protect everyone's dreams. And Kanata's dream is a really powerful one. If he's despairing so much, it's definitely enough power to bring Dyspear back."

Haruka jumped out of her seat. "We can't let Dyspear get Kanata! Kirara, Minami, Yui, you have to come to Hope Kingdom! We have to fight her off together!"

"Haruka, calm down a minute," Towa interjected. "We don't know for sure it's Dyspear. And people from your world really aren't supposed to come to Hope Kingdom. Maybe if we wait, say three more days, and really see how the situation develops-"

"I don't know if that's a wise decision, Towa," Minami chimed in. "Clearly you thought the situation was dire enough to bring Haruka to Hope Kingdom. You already lost Kanata once when you were taken by Dyspear. I don't know if waiting the situation out any more would be beneficial, especially given your father's health. If Kanata were to be taken by Dyspear, the king may..."

Towa frowned. She wished she could tell her friends the whole situation, but with Haruka present she knew it would do more harm than good. "You're right. And I can't stand to see Kanata go through the same pain I was. Oh what should I do? I wish I could tell you everything, but it's not my place to."

"Why is Kanata despairing so much anyway?" Kirara asked. "And why did you think Haruka could give him so much hope that it'd pull him entirely out of despair, hm?"

Towa's jaw dropped slightly at Kirara's bluntness. The model never was one to beat around the bush. "I-I w-well he-"

"Kanata has to make a really difficult, really important decision! He has to choose between his own happiness and what's best for the kingdom and everyone else. He's so selfless and loves his kingdom so much, of course he's in a lot of pain and feels hopeless. Towa said he felt he didn't have a choice in the situation until I showed up. And for Kanata, the Prince of Hope Kingdom, to feel so hopeless- it makes him an easy target for Dyspear. Everyone, we have to stop her. Please." Haruka's eyes were filling up with tears. Kanata had been a symbol of hope for her. She hadn't seen for herself how much despair really affected the prince, but she could see it in his eyes; any time that choice was brought up, Haruka knew how hard he was trying to avoid talking about it and how alone and miserable he really felt.

"Jeez, Haruharu, you still got it bad," Kirara laughed.

"I-I-I-I don't know what you're talking about! W-whatever could you mean?" Haruka stuttered.

"Haruka, we've known you had feelings for Kanata for a really long time," Minami stated the obvious.

"It was pretty easy to see," Yui laughed.

"You guys!" The flower princess's hand flews to her flaming cheeks.

"That's enough everyone," Towa interjected. "You can tease Haruka when you're here in Hope Kingdom. Kirara, I'll leave to collect you shortly. Minami, Pafu should arrive for you in twenty minutes. Yui, after Pafu finds Minami she'll arrive to collect you. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to once again fight for my kingdom."

"Don't mention it, Towa-chi," Kirara winked at her, causing the flame princess to blush.

"Yes, it's our job as Princess Precure to protect everyone's dreams. We may have taken a break, but that is still who we are," Minami assured her.

"All right! The gang's getting back together!" Haruka put a fist in the air. "I'll see you guys soon! Bye bye!" And with that she ended the call and hugged her friend. "Oh thank you so much for listening to me, Towa. We have to save Kanata from despair and I know bringing everyone here is the right thing to do. We can beat her together, we did before and we can definitely do it again."

Towa smiled, finally believing that breaking the most important rule of not bringing humans to Hope Kingdom was a good decision. "Yes, you're right Haruka. We can beat Dyspear together. Now if you excuse me, I'm off to collect the princess of the stars."

"Oh yes I can see why you wanted to get Kirara personally, Towa," Haruka snickered.

"Whatever are you talking about, Haruka!"

"Come on, Towa. You've been teasing me about my feelings for Kanata almost all day. Don't I get to tease you about Kirara at least a little bit?"

Towa blushed a bright scarlet. "No, you may not and I must be going now."

But Haruka caught her right as she turned to leave. "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask, why was it that Kirara's username was already in your Skype contacts list? You told me you'd never heard of Skype before."

Towa's jaw dropped. "W-well y-you see there was-"

Haruka put a single finger up, motioning for her to be quiet. "A princess doesn't lie, Towa."

Towa was defeated, Haruka had used her own words against her. "Please don't tell my brother or my parents about this. They wouldn't understand our bond."

Haruka laughed a little. "Don't worry about it, Towa. And I think Kanata would be a lot more understanding than you think."

"Right, if you say so. Now if you excuse me, I really must go now."

"But wait, what am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

"Are you really asking me this Haruka? Go spend time with my brother. That romantic relationship isn't going to start all on its own, you know."

Haruka gulped. "Y-you're right, Towa. Have a nice trip."

Towa turned her head and smiled at her friend before she disappeared in a flash of flames.

OuOuO

Haruka had wandered back to the balcony where she and Kanata had met before, expecting him to still be there. When she found that he had left, Haruka wasn't quite sure where to go. She was wandering the palace idly, admiring the intricate and beautiful details of the castle. Haruka leaned against a wall and sighed.

"I wish I could know what was bothering Kanata so much. How can I help him if I don't even know what it is?" She pulled her revived dress up key out of her pocket.

"I wonder if I can even transform again. It's been so long. I don't even have a perfume."

The dress up key levitated out of her hands and slowly floated away.

"Hey, wait! Come back! Wait, I know. If I follow it, it'll take me to where the perfumes are. Okay, let's go, princess." Haruka smiled and followed the key until it stopped outside a very large gold trimmed door with a crown insignia on it. The key fell back into her hand.

"All right, this must be it." The flower princess slowly pushed open the heavy door and was astounded to see all of the weapons they had used a Precure floating in bubbles above her.

"This has to be where they keep everything when the Precure aren't active. But if Dyspear really is coming back we'll need all of these again. Hmm…" A bubble around one of the princess perfumes slowly dissolved. The perfume slowly fell until it was floating right in front of Haruka.

"So this is really real, huh?" She said steadily, tears forming in her eyes. "I can really become a Precure again. I'm actually in Hope Kingdom again. I'm with Kanata again. I haven't been this happy in so long." She took the floating perfume and key in her hands. "All right, let's see if I can still do this. Precure! Princess Engage!"

She sprayed herself with the glittering pink perfume, transforming into the legendary warrior. "Princess of the flower, blooming in full glory! Cure Flora!" Flora looked over her frilly pink outfit in amazement.

"Ahh I can't believe it! I actually transformed, and it's been so long. My happiness is in full bloom!" She spun around euphorically. "All right, time to find Kanata!"

OuOuO

Prince Kanata took a break from his walk to sit in front of a giant cherry blossom tree. The pink flower petals and the sweet scent in the air was always soothing to him. He didn't know what to do. He knew he had to tell Haruka about his engagement, but he couldn't stand the thought of hurting her feelings. If only it could be just the two of them in a bubble with no interference from the outside world. When his sister was taken and he and his entire kingdom was deep in despair, she was the one who reminded him the beauty, purity and importance of dreams. Haruka had given Kanata a reason to fight for so many years. She is the reason he wants to do so well as the next King of Hope Kingdom. After everything she had put herself through to save it, he owed it to her to do his very best as King. To do his very best as King, he needed to take a queen. And as much as he loved the thought of Haruka being his queen, it just wasn't a possible option. He could never forgive himself if he once again asked her to give up everything she had in the human world and live with him forever in Hope Kingdom.

"Why am I so fixated on marrying Haruka?" The Prince wondered aloud, touching some blossoms that were still on the branch. "Is it… She's the only person I can imagine being so close to for the rest of my life."

 _Is it… Am I… Is this…_

"I'm in love with her," Kanata whispered. He laughed, quietly at first then louder as he threw some cherry blossom petals that were scattered around the tree into the air. The answer to his endless longing for her was so obvious, but he was too caught up in his duties as prince to see it.

"I'm in love with Haruka Haruno," Kanata laughed, leaning against the tree. But his joy was short lived. "I'm engaged to a stranger and I'm in love with Haruka."

At this point, the Prince of Hope was faced with two options: end the engagement to his unknown fiancee, or tell Haruka about his engagement. He had no idea if Haruka requited his love, but even if she didn't the news of his engagement would come as a shock to her. He had no right to meddle in Haruka's life any more than he already had.

"I have no choice, no choice at all in this situation. I must put my selfish desires aside and do what's best for Haruka. I can work through this pain if it means Haruka will be happy. She deserves to know the truth. I have no choice." Tears streamed noiselessly down the Prince's face. He wiped his eyes with an embroidered handkerchief he had in his pocket. "I must do the noble thing and tell her."

"Kanata!" The Prince turned toward the familiar voice. A warm, soft and pink figure enveloped his body. He didn't react right away, caught off guard by the blond haired heroine. When he realized who it was that was embracing him he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly. She pulled back all too soon.

"Kanata, I've been looking for you every where. I'm so happy I found you." Cure Flora smiled brightly at him.

Kanata always thought that Haruka was naturally beautiful. Every bit of that natural beauty was magnified when she transformed. She was breathtaking. Now that the prince knew the exact nature of his feelings for her, it somehow made her even more beautiful. She was a glittering heroine of hope standing right in front of him.

"Flora?" Kanata said, when he finally found the ability to speak. "You transformed? How? Why?"

The Princess of Flowers played with her long blonde hair nervously. "W-well I followed my dress up key and found the perfume and cyrstal princess rod and everything else. A-and I thought I'd see if I could still transform and the perfume landed in front of me and so I… did."

The Prince of Hope smiled, but that smile quickly vanished. "Flora, I have something very important I need to tell you. It's regarding the decision I told you about earlier."

Cure Flora smiled enthusiastically and brought her hands up in fists. "Okay! I am ready to help you with whatever you need to decide!"

Kanata's heart dropped. "Flora, the truth is, I had already made this decision weeks ago."

Flora's smile fell. "But then, why did you-"

"My mind only started to waver when I saw you again. I haven't been entirely honest with you and that was out of selfish motivations. Now I know that I must tell you what I decided."

The Prince took a deep breath, looking Cure Flora in the eye like the honorable man he was. It had to be said, no matter how painful a reality it was. He had no choice in the matter.

"Flora… I'm… engaged to be married."

"No…" the warrior gasped. "No, no that can't be true that can't be true because I-" But she stopped herself, trying to will the tears in her eyes to vanish but all they did was roll down her cheeks.

"It's an arranged marriage to a princess from a neighboring kingdom. As my father's health is declining and it appears I will be becoming King sooner than originally planned, I agreed to an arranged marriage. This is the option that is most beneficial to my dream and my kingdom."

"No!" Flora said again, stomping her foot. "No, no! No, this can't be happening! It can't because- because I!"

Kanata waited for her to finish her sentence but all she did was sob in front of him, falling onto her knees. The prince bent down to comfort her, despite his own pain.

"Flora, I didn't know you'd be this upset over-"

"Of course you didn't! How could you have. I only kept my mouth shut about everything every time I was with you because I was too shy and nervous to say anything! And then when Pafu and Aroma told me you needed me, of course I left right away, not knowing anything about the situation! Because I would do anything for you, anything at all, at the drop of a hat. And Towa!" Flora gasped. "Towa knew! Oh she knew and she read your journal and she thought I could change your mind!"

"My sister read my journal?" Kanata briefly questioned.

"But she already knew! She knew you were getting _married_ to someone you don't even know! What was I supposed to do? What did she think I could do?" Flora continued to sob.

"My sister asked you to come here?"

Flora rose to her feet, tears still falling down her face. "I have to go, Kanata. And I'm not sure if I will see you again. But this is all too much for me right now. I'm sorry." She turned to leap away, but Kanata caught her hand.

"Flora wait! Please, just let me-"

"No I don't want to hear it," she pleaded. "Please, just let me go, Kanata. I can't smile any more."

He dropped her hand, his jaw gaping open. She leapt away from him and he stared until she was out of sight.

"My dream… is gone." Kanata's voice was hoarse with tears and regret. He turned toward the cherry blossom tree just in time to see it be covered by thorns of despair.

OuOuO

Wow this is a long chapter. I just had so much I wanted to get out there in this chapter and yeah many many words. Maybe all the chapters will be this long from here on out? Who knows. My courses and work are going well, but I'm super busy. It feels good though. My friends are all gone or leaving so I need as many distractions as I can get. Thank you all for your reviews and continued support! Ahh I can't wait to see your thoughts on this chapter. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

Kanata's head was spinning. He had finally discovered his true feelings for Haruka and less than five minutes later she was gone, possibly forever. The prince felt a crushing pain in his chest that caused him to fall to his knees. He had done it again. He had sworn to himself he would never hurt Haruka again and he did. The prince was so sure of this promise that her happiness became his new dream. And he destroyed it. Prince Hope Grand Kanata, the next king of Hope Kingdom, destroyed his own dream.

"How sad…" A low female voice called from the cherry blossom tree. The tree was now covered from top to bottom in the thorns of despair. "All you did was tell her the truth, and that truth was devastating enough to crush both of your dreams."

"I thought…" Kanata said slowly, his voice hoarse. He watched his own tears fall onto the dirt in front of him. "I thought I was doing the right thing. For Haruka and for my kingdom. She deserved to know the truth, but why… Why did it turn out this way? It can't be the right thing to do if it turned out this way."

"You were caught between two desires: ensuring the happiness of the woman you love and appeasing your kingdom and your father." The voice continued, her tone emotionless. "You thought that by choosing one, you saved the other. Instead you have doomed both."

"I-I just wanted Haruka to live a happy, normal life," Kanata sobbed. "She deserved to know the truth about my engagement. I don't understand, why did it hurt her so."

"Oh, poor prince," the voice soothed. "Even when you fought single-handedly against Dysdark, you've never cried. Now here you are, weeping in front of me like a broken man."

"I swore I would never hurt her again. Protecting her smile became my new dream, and I absolutely ruined it. I was just trying to do the right thing, and now I may never even see her again."

A black smoke manifested in front of the prince. Kanata watched as it curved and swirled in front of him. It took on a humanoid figure and then stopped in front of him.

"If you choose to join me, my sad prince, I can bring hope back to you, your kingdom and the girl of your dreams." The figure reached out a smoky hand.

Prince Kanata looked at the figure. "I-I'm not sure…"

"Your indecision has already cost you your dream and the woman you love. Trust me, join me and I will ensure your dream and that of everyone in your kingdom."

The prince grit his teeth. He didn't trust himself to make a decision on his own any more. His last decision caused he and Haruka so much pain. He would do anything to avoid it again.

Kanata stood, reaching out to take the smoky hand. As he touched the smoke, it solidified. The hazy figure materialized into a pale woman.

Kanata's eyes widened at the sight of her. She was unmistakably beautiful, but intimidatingly so. Her hair shone like the feathers of a crow, and the contrast of it against her skin made her look even more pale. Her crimson eyes stared into his so intensely that the prince was afraid to look away, believing she would seriously injure him if he did. The ends of her hair were bright red, almost as if blood was dripping down her hair. She pressed her thin lips together into a small, confident smile.

"Will you stay by my side for eternity, your majesty?" She whispered.

The prince's eyes glazed over, gaining a reddish hue. "I will," Kanata said in an emotionless tone. "You have my full trust. Your wish is my command, my beloved."

She smiled and laughed, quietly at first then louder. She took Kanata's arm in hers and together they walked toward the palace.

OuOuOu

Cure Flora was absolutely devastated. The man she had been in love with for the majority of her life was getting _married!_ To someone he barely knew! She didn't know what to do, she wanted to cry and scream at the same time. Cure Flora continued flying through the sky, not wanting contact with anyone. How could Towa have brought her here just to hurt her so badly? She knew how Flora felt about Kanata, so why force her to learn about her brother's marriage? Haruka never would have learned anything if she had just stayed in her world with her boring life if Towa never intervened.

Flora wasn't sure how much longer she could continue flying and crying. In an unfamiliar place with little to no options, she reluctantly returned to the palace.

 _I don't want to see Towa or anybody right now,_ she thought. _I just to hide in a million blankets and watch the Princess Diaries._ But fate had other plans, as she saw Towa, Kirara, Minami and Yui along with Pafu and Aroma standing in front of the palace. Of course, they were probably looking for her. Or rather they were expecting her to show up with Kanata any second. Flora felt nauseous with anxiety as she fell to the ground in front of her friends, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

"Flora?!" They all said, shocked to see Haruka transformed. Her transformation broke around her in a flash of pink petals.

"You knew…" Haruka sobbed. She pointed at Towa. "You knew! You knew this whole time! Why did you bring me here then, Towa? Why?"

The flame princess knew that this conversation was ultimately inevitable, but she didn't want to have it nonetheless. "I thought you could change his mind, Haruka. That you could save him from despair."

"But what about _me?!"_ She sobbed. "What about me giving in to despair? Towa, you _knew!"_

"Haruharu, hold on," Kirara tried to reason with her.

"What happened, Towa?" Minami asked. She walked over and knelt beside her friend, putting an arm around her shoulders as she sobbed.

"I thought-"

"Kanata's getting married!" Haruka cried. "He's getting married and Towa brought me here to make him change his mind. But of course I couldn't! And how could I? I'm surprised he even remembered me."

Yui then ran over to Haruka, hugging her tightly. "Is this true, Towa?"

Kirara held Towa's hand supportively. 'Well hey if your brother were getting married to Dyspear, wouldn't you want the love of his life to stop it? Honestly, Towachi was just trying to do what she thought was best for her kingdom and her brother. She never meant for you to get hurt, Haruharu."

"Wait…" Haruka slowly stood, her friends moving to her sides. "Kirara… did you know this entire time about Kanata? How? Why?"

The model froze and frowned. "I-I well I-"

"I had to talk to someone about this," Towa defended the star princess. "I couldn't talk to my parents and trying to reason with my brother myself was out of the question. And after leaving your world forever I couldn't bare the thought of leaving Kirara behind so we've been… Skyping, as you call it."

"Really?" Mianami asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"I already knew you've been Skyping each other! But why didn't you tell me, Kirara?" Haruka pleaded with her friend.

Kirara sighed "It wasn't my place to tell you, Haruharu. Towachi and I knew Kanata had to be the one to tell you, if he ever did. I'm really sorry." She joined her friends in a group hug.

"I never wanted you to get hurt, Haruka," Towa assured her. "I just… I thought you'd be the only one who could save my brother from despair. I should have weighed your feelings more heavily. I'm so sorry." The flame princess completed their hug.

"Wait," Yui pulled back. "Am I the only one who caught what Towa said, about Kanata marrying Dyspear?"

Towa jumped back. "I-I-I-I'm not entirely sure about that _yet!_ I just thought it would make sense since no one has met his fiancee and he's been despairing so much."

Haruka sighed, she was relieved and scared at the same time. Relieved because Kanata's fiancee may be a fake but scared because she could be the most dangerous person Haruka could possibly think of.

"What do you think we should do, Haruka?" Minami asked.

"Eh? Why are you asking me?"

"Well you're the one that's in love with him," Kirara teased her friend. "Shouldn't you decide if we should break up his engagement or not?"

Haruka frowned, focusing intensely. She never even considered that Kanata's fiancee could be Dyspear in disguise. If there was even a chance that Dysdark could come back and enslave Hope Kingdom…

"We have to do it," she decided. "It's our duty as Precure to protect the dream's of the people of Hope Kingdom."

"And your duty as Kanata's future wife to get him out of this crappy arranged marriage," Kirara stuck out her tongue.

Haruka's face turned bright red. "H-hey! W-we're not getting _married_ I-I don't even know how he feels about me. And even if he did like me back I'm not sure we'd get _married_ right away. I'm still in college, you know."

Towa laughed a little. Yes Kanata should get married soon, but who knows what could happen with those two. They complete each other.

"But for now, I really need a break," Haruka slumped over. Her eyes felt sticky with tears and small trails of black mascara made tracks on her cheeks.

"Oh, of course! Just go inside and ask Pafu or Aroma for anything you need," Towa pushed her friend inside the palace, leaving her in the hands of the fairies.

"Do you really think it's Dyspear, Towa?" Minami asked, her brow creased with worry.

"I'm not entirely sure, but Kanata made himself an easy target. All he'd need to do now for Dyspear to fully take him is to abandon his dream."

"But he wouldn't do that, right Towachi?"

Towa frowned. "Seeing the state my brother has been in over his engagement, I don't know what he would do any more."

OuOuOuO

Hi everyone, this chapter could have been longer but I decided to cut it off here so it doesn't get too long like 5,000 words long. I have great plans for the rest of the story but let's call this the halfway point? If it's too long then it starts to get stale but if it's too short then it's not fully developed. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Haruka didn't have much experience with heartbreak; but, being a college student, she knew how to deal with this familiar anxiety and crushing dread.

Pafu drew her a hot bubble bath with rose scented bubble soap that gave the water a light pink color. The maid took her clothes to have them washed and dried for her.

"Why aren't you going after Prince Kanata right now, Haruka-pafu?" Pafu asked her.

"I know the fight with Dyspear for Kanata will be extremely difficult, Pafu," the flower princess smiled. "And before I can help him I need to help myself, or else I won't be able to do the best I can. Does that make sense?"

The pink dog nodded. "Let me know if you need someone to talk to-pafu. Onii-chan and I knew he was unhappy but he never wanted to talk to us about anything-pafu," She frowned.

Haruka patted her head and smiled. "Thank you, Pafu, but I'll be fine. Really."

The maid smiled and closed the door behind her. Haruka sighed, finally she could have some time alone to think and not get hurt by anybody else. It'd been so long since her days of battle as a Precure, she really wasn't use to such mental strain. After dropping her towel, the flower princess settled into the hot water. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her head, to think of anything other than despair.

 _Think happy thoughts. Think about the Hanasaki Flower Shop or that time we built a snow castle together or when Kanata got his memories back._

She smiled when his face came into her thoughts. Such a horrible day ended on such a positive note when Kanata finally regained his memories. He remembered who she was and her dream, he even told her his new dream.

"His… New dream…" Haruka said slowly, her eyes snapping open. "M-me-I… My smile… For me to always be smiling… That's Kanata's dream."

That was it! That's why he was so confused when she told him he was proud of the progress he had made toward his dream. His dream wasn't to be a great king, it was her! It had been her for all these years, and it was still her now. Even after being separated for so long their paths were still meant to overlap because _she_ was his _dream,_ and dreams are everything to the people of Hope Kingdom after all.

"D-does that mean I'm everything to him?" The flower princess wondered aloud before moving her hands in a dismissive motion. "No, no. That can't be right, that isn't possible."

They hadn't even seen each other in six years, surely the prince had more important things on his mind than her. He was getting ready to become king of Hope Kingdom and was probably busy all the time. Plus he still had his duties as Prince to attend to. And on top of all that he accepted an arranged marriage. If Haruka really was everything to him, then how could he accept something that would separate them forever?

 _Oh no, no despairing, not today. Dyspear probably already has a lot of power from Kanata's despair, she does_ not _need mine too,_ Haruka shook her head. _Happy thoughts! Like that time we found that secret rose garden at Noble Academy. Or when we went to Minami's resort and Towa was afraid to go swimming. Or when Towa joined our team, and Kanata made me promise to look after her. He apologized a lot for all of that…_

Kanata was selfless almost to a fault. He expressed how guilty he felt for getting Haruka, Minami and Kirara so involved in saving his kingdom more times than Haruka could count. She didn't mind becoming a Precure in the least, she just wished Kanata wouldn't feel bad for needing their help. Haruka didn't want a normal life, even though Kanata always seemed to think that that was what was best for her. She wanted an adventure like all the princesses she read about. She wanted a life where she could do anything in her power, as a person or a Precure, to help people in need.

"Did he really think this is what was best f-for me? For… us? I-is that why he…" she left the question hanging in the air. "He just wants what's best for me, he never knew what I wanted because I never told him. He doesn't know that-" she gasped. "If Kanata had known how I feel about him, would that have changed his mind?"

Haruka's heart was racing, so much for a bubble bath calming her down. "I'm his new dream, even if he didn't feel the same way he'd still listen and think about it very carefully. It wouldn't be like him to just completely ignore my feelings. He just didn't know is all, he never wanted to hurt me. H-he…" she swallowed a lump in her throat, her cheeks turning light pink. "He might… like me, too?" She covered her face with her hands. "Ahhh now isn't the time to be thinking about that! He's about to get _married_ to a _stranger_ who's probably _evil_. I have to save him first."

She got out of the bath tub and put on a fluffy pink robe, Pafu was probably done washing her clothes by now and she had a lot to plan with her friends.

OuOuOu

The three other Princess Precure and Yui sat at an elegant white table just outside the gates to the rose garden. While they were all worried about what may be happening to Kanata, they decided it was for the best that they not look for him. If he wanted to come back to the palace he would, and after knowingly breaking Haruka's heart, he may want some time alone.

"So… what will happen if it really is Dyspear, Towachi?" Kirara asked. "I mean, your whole kingdom hasn't given in to despair, so how strong can she really be?"

Towa shook her head. "I don't know. Onii-sama is going to become the King of Hope Kingdom, so his dream is the strongest of all. If he does fully give in to despair, who know how much power Dyspear will receive. She might not even need energy from the whole kingdom this time." She frowned and lowered her head.

"But…" Minami hesitated. "Last time, wasn't it you being abducted that made your people give in to despair?"

Towa nodded.

"Then… if Kanata gives into despair, how much easier would it be for everyone else to give in to despair? Regardless of whether or not his fiancee is Dyspear, if Kanata really does give up hope and abandon his dream, all the residents of Hope Kingdom most likely will, too."

The four girls frowned. "W-well hey! We're here, and it's our duty to protect everyone's dreams! Even if Dyspear is a lot stronger than she was before, I'm sure we can still find a way to beat her," Kirara motivated everyone.

Towa smiled at Kirara's attempt to keep everyone's spirits up. That was one of the things she liked most about her: even when the odds were against her she still found a way to be positive. Maybe that was just part of being a top model, but Kirara's optimism was so consistent and uplifting that Towa often felt sluggish when the two couldn't Skype for a few days. Kirara's sparkling personality was like a cure for whatever was troubling her.

A large shadow spread over the table. Towa turned to see what was approaching and saw her brother slowly approaching the palace.

"Onii-sama!" She cried and ran toward him, but her sprint slowed to a halt when she noticed that he wasn't alone. The others ran to join her.

"O-onii-sama?" A worried tone colored Towa's voice. "Who is this?"

The prince was standing arm in arm with a woman whom Towa had never seen before. Her black hair framed her face and her crimson eyes seemed to stare right through the flame princess.

"Princess Hope Delight Towa, I would like to introduce my fiancee," Kanata said, in an emotionless tone. "This is my beloved betrothed, Princess Yami of Midlight Kingdom."

"Beloved?" The three girls behind Towa exclaimed, unable to hide their shock.

"Onii-sama…" Towa whispered in disbelief.

The woman before her curtseyed. "Princess Towa, it is an honor to make your acquaintance. I can't wait to become a member of your family."

Towa just stood in front of her brother and his fiancee, frozen with shock and fear. She couldn't quite place it, but something there was something oddly familiar and terrifying about Princess Yami.

"I-it's very nice to meet you," Minami stepped forward, offering her hand. All the years of attending parties with her parents made Minami very good at handling tense situations. "I am Kaido Minami. And this is Amanogawa Kirara and Nanase Yui. Kirara and I are Princess Precure."

Yami made a disgusted face. "Princess Precure?"

"Yes, that's right," Towa said firmly. "And I, too, am a Princess Precure. We protected Hope Kingdom and defeated Dysdark six years ago." She looked Yami dead in the eye, no longer willing to be controlled by this mysterious and dark woman.

"Hm, you don't say, Twi- Towa-san," Yami replied, clearly unimpressed.

"Towa, you know that we are forbidden to cross the border between their world and ours," Kanata spoke in a harsh tone. "I demand that you escort them home immediately."

"Onii-sama! That can't happen! We are Princess Precure, they need to be here to-"

"To attend your wedding!" Kirara interrupted, stepping forward and taking Towa's hand. "I mean really, we're the saviors of Hope Kingdom. We couldn't miss this wedding, right, Towachi?" Kirara winked at her.

Towa understood what Kirara meant. They couldn't afford to lose whatever element of surprise they still had left. "Y-yes! Onii-sama, you have to agree, it's only fair that they stay to attend your wedding. Or at least the engagement party. Isn't that happening in a few days?"

"Actually," Yami interjected. "Prince Kanata and I have decided that there is no reason to postpone our engagement any further. We plan on marrying tonight."

Towa's eyes widened, but she tried her best to conceal her surprise. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Kanata affirmed. "And we will need the entire palace staff to make sure everything goes perfectly. So it will be up to you and your friends to entertain yourselves, Towa."

"Yes, Onii-sama," Towa curtseyed to her brother and his fiancee.

"Thank you, Towa," Kanata smiled at his sister, losing some of his roboticness. The pair walked in the direction of the palace together.

"I'll see you later… Twilight." Yami whispered as she passed Towa. A shiver went up her spine when she said her old name, but Towa knew now would be the wrong time to react. Her brother was under some kind of trance, and if she pulled anything now there was nothing stopping Yami from hurting him. The girls stood in place until they were certain Kanata and Yami were gone.

"It's definitely her," Towa whispered. She felt her stomach churn with dread. "My brother is marrying Dyspear."

OuOuOu

Haruka was wandering around the halls of the palace in the fluffy pink robe, searching for Pafu.

"Pafu?" Where are you?" She called. "Jeez, she said to call her if I needed anything and now that I need her I can't find her anywhere. I wonder what's going on."

Haruka passed a white door with a flame insignia and recognized it as Towa's room from when they had tea earlier.

"I hope Towa won't mind if I borrow one of her outfits…" She opened the door and went to the princess's closet. To say she was disappointed with what she found there was an understatement.

"Aww, where are all the extravagant dresses? These must be her casual clothes," she sighed and picked out a short white dress with a sweetheart neckline and a lace collar. "Oh well, this is much more practical, any way." She put on the dress and went back into the palace halls.

"Still, it's kind of weird that all the servants are gone. Shouldn't a palace as big as this be bustling with people?"

The flower princess walked a few more feet and turned. She saw a familiar purple haired figure and ran toward him, her heart thudding in her chest.

"Kanata, I'm so happy you're okay!" She hugged him tightly, but pulled back when his arms didn't wrap around her. "O-oh, I'm sorry about that. But I'm so glad you're okay! I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly, I was just… surprised about your engagement is all," she blushed lightly and tried to avoid looking him in the eye.

"Haruka, I'm glad to see you're… okay," the prince said, looking down at her with an expressionless face. "My intention was never to hurt you."

"I know that now!" Haruka bursted. It was never her style to hide her enthusiasm. "Kanata, I figured it out. And I remembered your dream and it all makes sense now. You'd never want to hurt me because… because _I_ am your new dream. And dreams are everything to the people of Hope Kingdom."

Kanata gasped slightly. Haruka finally looked him in his lavender eyes, just in time to see a small flash of red, but she ignored it.

"And if I'm your dream, and dreams are everything to the people of Hope Kingdom, then that must mean… t-that in some way, I'm everything to you," Haruka reached for the prince's hand and held it with no resistance. "Kanata, I haven't been completely honest with you, either. And the truth is that I...I-"

"What is going on here?" A shrill voice rang through the hall, pulling Haruka and Kanata from their dream like state. Haruka dropped the Prince's hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Kanata and I were just-" Haruka spun to see a woman she didn't recognize, but felt oddly familiar to her.

"Haruka was just leaving to find the other Precure, my beloved," Kanata turned toward the woman, taking her arm. "Haruka, allow me to introduce my fiancee. This is Princess Yami of Midlight Kingdom."

"N-nice to meet you," Haruka curtseyed, despite the mix of negative emotions she felt. "I'm Haruno Haruka."

"Haruno Haruka?" Yami laughed as though she was making fun of the name, she then turned to Kanata. "Prince Kanata, tailors are waiting for you in your quarters. You are to be there at once."

"Yes, my beloved," he turned to leave before looking back at Haruka. Haruka looked into his now red-violet eyes with concern but he quickly walked away.

"Cure Flora," Yami spoke her name with malice in her tone. "You are to never speak to the Prince again. If you or your friends interfere with our wedding I will have you all executed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Haruka gasped. "W-what are you-"

"Do _not_ make me repeat myself, just do as I tell you to and there won't be any problems. After tonight you can go back to your normal life at the flower shop. Is that clear?" Yami glared at the flower princess.

"U-um yes, ma'am."

"Good," she turned to leave. "I don't expect to see you again until the ceremony at sunset. And if I do," she turned toward her, "I will end you."

OuOuOu

Hey everyone sorry for taking so long with this update. My classes are done! Nervous laughter… tbh I've been kinda anxious about updating. I really want to do a good job and I'm worried that I'm not and I don't want to let anybody done or make a story that isn't very good. Thanks for sticking with me and being patient even though I took forever. Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Haruka stood still in the hallway as Yami walked past her.

"What… Just happened," Haruka said aloud. She had just tried to confess to the man she had been in love with for most of her life, just to be told by his fiancee that if she ever goes near him again it will be the end of her. The very same fiancee that Kanata had referred to as his "beloved."

"What the heck is going on?" She said louder this time, throwing her hands up in frustration. She had just convinced herself that she might _actually_ have a chance with him only to be shut down before she could even get the words out. Tears started to well in her eyes. How could she have come so far just to get her heart truly broken? If he really was in love with Yami, then Haruka's feelings must not matter to him at all.

"What am I supposed to do now?" The flower princess sobbed. "W-was coming all the way here just a waste? W-were all those years of loving him just a waste?" She leaned against a wall next to a vase of white lilies, trying to hide herself from whatever servants might be in the hall.

"Haruka? Haruka, there you are," the princess of flowers looked up to see Yui running toward her. "We all split up to look for you- what happened? Are you okay?"

Haruka wiped her eyes with her palms. "I'm okay, Yui, I just… met Kanata and his… his…"

"His fiancee?" The author asked hesitantly. Haruka only nodded as more tears fell down her face. "Oh, Haruka, I'm so sorry, but-"

"What am I supposed to do, Yui?" Haruka choked out, grabbing the hem or her dress. "He called her his beloved and everything. And they barely know each other, but he already loves her? And she said if I went any where near him again it'd be the end of me. What can I even do?"

"Haruka, listen to me!" Yui shook her friend by the shoulders. "I've been taken by despair four times. And every time I fought for my dream against despair you were there with me, fighting for me and my dream. But now it's time for me to help you fight for yours. You've become such a splendid princess, a Grand Princess at that!"

"Yui, that's not true, I still have so much to learn-"

"Haruka, you've become a princess and you know it. The Princess of the Hope Kingdom even called upon you to save her brother from despair. Towa believed you could save Kanata and so do the rest of us. He really is marrying Dyspear, Haruka."

"H-he is?"

Yui nodded. "She called Towa Twilight and was totally disgusted by even the mention of the Princess Precure."

"B-but Kanata… my beloved…"

"She has to have him under some kind of spell, like she did with Towa. Kanata loves _you_ , Haruka. We all know it's true. You're the only one who can save him."

"B-but how can I? Yami said if I went near him again-"

"You have to tell him how you feel, Haruka. I know you're scared, but you have to save Kanata from Dyspear, or else all of Hope Kingdom will be taken again. Towa said that the dream of the King of Hope Kingdom is the strongest dream of all, and Kanata is about to become King. If Dysdark has the power of such a strong dream, who knows what will happen."

"And it's me…" Haruka whispered, looking up at her friend. "Yui, _I'm_ Kanata's dream! To protect my dream and my smile is Kanata's dream. If that dream is the strongest of all then…"

"He really cares about you, Haruka," Yui smiled. She took small object wrapped in a cloth out of her pocket. "You know, I always wanted to become a Precure like all of you. I never did, but that didn't stop me from doing the very best I could to help all of you out. Who knew that someday I'd be telling the princess of flowers to go save her prince." They both laughed quietly. Yui removed the cloth around the object, revealing a shiny and perfectly molded piece of clay. The silhouette was similar to that of an A-line dress. The skirt of the dress was an ombre of dark to light purple, straight up to the bust where an orange ribbon accentuated all the cool colors.

"Yui, that looks like-"

"I made this dress up key in ceramics class back at Noble Academy, along with three other ones like you all have. I kept them all these years to remind me to never stop believing in the girls who protect everyone's dreams." She carefully put the dress up key back in her pocket. "Haruka, you need to save Kanata from Dyspear's tricks. We all believe in you. Now go, live your dream. Be the princess who saves her prince."

Haruka tightly hugged Yui. She had known that Yui wanted to be a Precure with them, but never knew just how badly she had wished for it. She wanted to tell her how sorry she was that she wasn't able to be included in everything the Precure did and how valuable a friend she was to her, but she knew Yui was already well aware.

"Thank you, Yui," Haruka said, pulling away from their hug. She raced down the hallway, on a mission to rescue her prince.

"Go get him, Flora," Yui smiled. She pulled her dress up key out of her pocket once more and held it up to the light streaming in from the sun roof. "Maybe some day," she sighed as she returned it to her pocket.

OuOuOu

Kanata sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. Everything was developing so quickly. Thank goodness the palace had such a large staff to take care of the wedding details. Princess Yami seemed to have everything working like clockwork, and all Kanata had to do was follow her lead. He had a few minutes of time to himself while the tailors took his outfit to be altered.

 _I'm such a lucky man_ he thought to himself, smiling. _Not many arranged marriages work out as well as mine._

Deciding that these memories were worth recording, the prince reached for his journal on his bedside table. He entered the combination on the lock quickly, 0-4-1-0, and opened the white leather cover, flipping the pages to where a pressed rose marked the last page he had written on. He checked the date of his last entry, and to his complete surprise saw that it was from earlier that day. Not remembering what he had written, he decided to read it over.

 _May 28th_

 _I'm not quite sure how the situation can worsen from where it currently is. My father's health is only worsening and the date of my wedding is only drawing nearer. While I'm trying to see the better side of my engagement, it is becoming very difficult. Towa can see right through my charade, but is choosing to keep her distance. We've talked it over many times already and she knows I have no intention of reconsidering my decision. Pafu and Aroma have offered their support, but, not wanting to burden them with my own problems, I assured them I was fine with the events that are unfolding. As the future King of Hope Kingdom I have a duty to my people, even if it makes my heart ache._

 _On the other hand, Haruka is doing well. Aroma has told me she's working part time in a flower shop between semesters at University. That's so fitting for her, the princess of flowers. I'm sure every flower in that shop is pale compared to her beauty. If only she were here with me. Then there would be no question about my arranged marriage, for there would be no arranged marriage to any unknown princess from a far away kingdom. Haruka and I would be together again, for the first time in years. I wonder if she thinks of me as often as I do of her. Most likely not, as she's constantly on my mind._

Kanata stared at the page, a blank expression of confusion on his face. Why was he speaking so admirably of Haruno Haruka? Of course he was close to her, she reignited his belief in dreams when Hope Kingdom first fell to the hands of Dysdark. With a sinking sense of confusion and fear in his chest, he furiously flipped through his journal, frantically looking for any other time her name was written.

 _May 24th_

 _I had another dream about Haruka last night. She was standing in the middle of a crystal clear ballroom, completely alone.. She was transformed as Cure Flora and wearing the Mode Elegant Premium Sakura dress- she looked absolutely breathtaking. I walked toward her and took her hand and we started to dance. I leaned down to kiss her lips as she stretched up to reach mine, but right before our lips met I awakened. Oh well, what is life without dreams._

 _May 1st_

 _Aroma tells me that Haruka finished her university classes for the semester. Now she's on summer holiday. The next academic year will be her last at university and she will graduate a year earlier than her peers. I'm so proud of the beautiful princess she has become. If only I were there to see it._

 _April 10th_

 _Today is Haruka's 20th birthday. If she were in Hope Kingdom, we would have had a grand ball to celebrate; just as we had for Towa's 20th birthday four months prior. I want to go to her world to see her, but I fear if she knew of the decision I had recently made she would have no interest in even seeing me._

 _April 8th_

 _It is done. Today I have signed an agreement to marry a princess of a faraway kingdom. As these are my private thoughts, I can share that I don't even remember the name of the woman or the name of her kingdom. What I do know is that she doesn't have red hair with a messy bun on top and a pink flower clip holding it all together. Her dream isn't to be a princess. She doesn't know everything there is to know about roses. Her eyes don't sparkle when she talks about fairy tales. Her favorite color isn't any and every shade of pink. She doesn't try her best at every new thing she tries and doesn't stop trying her best even when she has mastered it. Her name isn't Haruno Haruka. And since her name is not Haruno Haruka, I will never_ want _to marry her. But it is not out of desire that I marry, but out of necessity for my Kingdom and my dream. For if her name were Haruno Haruka, I would only make her dream much harder to achieve._

His lavender eyes widened. Kanata couldn't believe all that he had read, and those were only a few of the entries he found that contained her name. His mind was racing.

"What… what is all this…" he whispered. "What did Yami… A-am I in… with Haruka?"

The prince knew his journal couldn't possibly be a lie. It was his own memories from his own point of view. But how could he not remember something, _someone_ , so important? His feelings toward his arranged marriage, and more importantly Haruka, didn't change until he met Yami. What could she have done to him?

"Prince Kanata, you have a visitor," The guard at his door called in.

"Please tell them to wait a few moments, thank you," Kanata rose from his bed. He really didn't want to see anybody right now as he needed to process what all was going on and just what Yami might be doing to him.

"She says it's urgent, your majesty."

The prince sighed. "Very well, let her in."

The girl waiting at the door didn't even wait for the guard to tell her to come in as she burst through the door, closing it quickly and leaving the guard on the other side of the wall.

"Haruka?" Kanata said, quite surprised. He hadn't expected to see her until the ceremony that evening.

"Kanata!" She ran over to him, almost entirely out of breath. She wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug. She was so full of sincerity that the prince was moved to return the hug. It would be a lie to say Kanata wasn't disappointed when she pulled away from the embrace. That disappointment quickly changed to humor when she jumped a few feet back from him, noticing he was in his undershirt and loose casual pants.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She blushed furiously and averted her eyes.

 _She's so cute_ Kanata thought with a small smile on his face. "It's quite all right, Haruka. Now, what was so urgent you had to speak with me about?"

"R-right!" The flower princess's hands balled into fists at her sides. "Kanata, I wanted to tell you this earlier but I couldn't, and now I won't let anyone interfere again. Kanata… To me, you're more than just someone who inspires me. You've believed in me my whole life, even when I was just a bud of a princess. Even when you lost your memories, you just wanted to protect me because you cared so deeply for me. And even though we haven't seen each other in so long, I still want to protect you because I care so deeply for you."

She looked him in the eye and took his right hand in both of hers. Her previous blush had cooled to a light pink and she looked him in the eye with so much warmth and passion the prince couldn't help but gasp.

"Kanata... I… I'm in love with you," the princess said slowly, putting meaning into every word. "I know you're marrying Yami, but you had a right to know about my feelings. There's still time for you to make a decision. And I know you only want what's best for me but… But…" Haruka closed her eyes tightly. "I would be really happy if you chose me!"

The prince's jaw dropped. Suddenly, every moment he ever shared with Haruka returned to his mind. Every second the two shared together from when they first met to when they had to part ways after the defeat of Dysdark six years ago. He blinked, and finally fully took in all that was happening.

It was her. Haruno Haruka, Cure Flora. Standing right in front of him. Confessing her love for him, and asking that he choose her over Princess Yami to be his bride. His heart swelled in his chest, and he stepped toward her, wrapping her hands in his.

"Haruka… I've only ever dreamed of hearing you say those words. And now that you have, I want you to know how I feel, too."

The flower princess shivered in anticipation at his words, tears welling in the corner of her eyes.

"Haruka… I love you. I have for a very long time." The prince sighed with happiness as he was finally able to admit to the feelings he had had for years. She leapt forward and hugged him tightly, tears of happiness threatening to fall from her eyes. Kanata hugged her back and drank in her honey scent. He pressed his lips into her neck, and then pulled back to look at her aqua eyes.

"Guards! Seize her!" A shrill voice cut through the prince and princess's moment.

"What?!" The two said simultaneously.

"This woman is to be arrested for high treason and brainwashing the Prince of Hope Kingdom!" Yami pointed a long pale finger at Haruka. Suddenly, three heavily armored guards tore the couple apart, kicking and screaming.

"Stop, you can't do this! Kanata!" Haruka screamed and reached toward the prince as guards dragged her out the door.

"Stop, guards! Haruka!" Kanata called after her and ran to the door only to have it slammed in his face. He turned to his fiancee. "Yami! What have you done? What are you doing to me?" His staff materialized in his hands and he pointed it at the princess.

The black haired princess swayed toward him. "My dear prince, have you forgotten our agreement? You and I are to be wed at sundown."

"Nothing of the sort will be happening!" The prince snarled. Even though the woman was inching closer and closer to him he refused to step back. "You will release Haruka immediately and leave my kingdom forever!"

Princess Yami laughed. "Oh, Prince," she touched his face gingerly. "Why would I do that when you're the one who agreed to marry me?"

Kanata grunted and breathed deeply, trying to fight off Yami's control, but it was no use. He sunk to the floor at her feet. Yami knelt in front of him.

"Now, Prince Kanata, you are to entirely forget about Haruno Haruka and if she ever shows her face in Hope Kingdom again, you are to order her to be banished. Do you understand?"

The prince's red violet eyes rose to meet those of his fiancee. "Yes, my beloved."

OuOuOu

Wow, a normal amount of time between updates, how surprising. Thank you all very much for all of your feedback! I appreciate every word. It's almost 3AM where I live so I'm going to go to bed. This ship gives me so many feelings and I just have so much I want to say about how much I love them. Things are getting intense! Please review~


	9. Chapter 9

The young red haired woman was thrown into a cell in the dungeon. A lone window in the corner of the room shed a small but strong beam of light in the room. Recovering from being violently thrown to the ground, Haruka jumped to the bars of the cell just as the palace guards locked the gate.

"You have to listen to me! The prince is in danger! Please, I'm a Precure, you have to trust me!"

One of the guards turned and looked at the young woman, his eyes full of despair, before disappearing up the steps, leaving Haruka completely alone in her cell.

She rose to her feet, wiping the dirt off of her white dress. "I can't just be stuck in here. Kanata just can't still be under Dyspear's spell- I told him my true feelings for crying out loud. And after so long- and he loves me too. How… why…" The flower princess trailed off, looking at her scratched palms.

"She was able to freeze his dream."

"Yes. Stopped."

Haruka's head snapped up, immediately recognizing the robotic voices. She jumped back into a fighting stance. "Stop! Freeze!" She could have sworn she was alone, but the soldiers of despair always seemed to appear out of thin air.

"Precure," the two said in an emotionless unison, acknowledging the young woman.

She pulled out her dress up key while her perfume materialized in her hand. The warrior strongly inserted the perfume into the key as she had dozens of times before. "Precure, Princess Engage," she said, but only at a level barely above a whisper.

But instead of the magic bottle filling with a glittery pink perfume, Haruka stared in shock at the empty perfume. Confused, she tried twisting the key a few more times, only to find the same result: a crushing emptiness.

"W-why can't I…"

"Your dream," Stop and Freeze said together. "We couldn't stop it, but…"

"You have despaired," Freeze finished their sentence.

Haruka stared in horror at the products of despair. "W-what are you talking about? My dream is… it is!"

"Dyspear will marry the prince," Freeze confirmed.

"She will, and you will not," Stop finished their twin's sentence.

"You're wrong! Kanata doesn't want this, and I can fix it! I know I can! He needs me to! He wants me to!"

"Does he?" Stop questioned.

"Yes, does he?" Freeze echoed their sibling.

"Of course he does! He-"

"Why did you make him despair?" The twins pressed, cocking their heads to the side.

"W-what? W-when did I ever-"

"You made the prince despair, Precure. It was you who crushed his dream."

"That's impossible!" Haruka shouted, tears threatening the spill out of her eyes. "I'm Kanata's new dream! My smile is-" she gasped, remembering the altercation the two had had only hours ago. "Oh my god," she sat against the dirty wall of the cell in disbelief. "This is all my fault. None of this would be as bad as it is if I hadn't overreacted. How could I ever trick myself into believing Kanata would ever marry me? I crushed his _dream_." The princess watched her tears fall onto the dirt floor. "He worked so hard to raise my dream and I repaid him by crushing his, when all he wanted was to protect me. I could never deserve to be his wife, or to be a princess of any kind. I'm so worthless."

Stop and Freeze turned toward each other and nodded. "The leader of the Precure has despaired." The two teleported out of the cell, leaving Haruka truly alone to wallow in regret.

OuOuO

The remaining Precure were still searching for Haruka. Yui had been sent inside the palace to find her while Minami, Towa and Kirara searched the village and gardens surrounding the kingdom. The four agreed to meet back at the patio directly outside the palace in half an hour. Having already completed her mission, Yui patiently waited for her friends' arrival. The artist squinted her eyes as she saw Minami walking toward her. She ran to meet the princess of the sea.

"Minami! I found Haruka!"

Minami sighed with relief. "Thank goodness. Where is she?"

"She was crying alone in the hallway inside the palace," Minami frowned at Yui's words. "But I was able to help her! Minami, I helped her through her despair just like all of you helped me so many times. And she said she was going to confess her true feelings to Kanata!"

Minami smiled brightly at her friend. "Oh Yui, I'm so proud of you. You might be a late bloomer, but you have every quality of a Grand Princess. Thank you for protecting Haruka's dream."

Yui rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "W-well you all helped me so many times, and to be able to return the favor is thanks enough for me."

Minami glanced at her watch. "Aren't Towa and Kirara supposed to be back by now as well? We agreed to meet here in half an hour no matter what."

Yui frowned slightly. "You're right, I hope that nothing bad happened to them. I don't know what it is, but I'm starting to feel a little… uneasy."

Minami nodded, the wind blowing through her hair. "I feel it too."

OuOuO

"Kirara we need to hurry back, Minami and Yui will be waiting for us," the flame princess warned as she tried to lead the model in the direction to the palace. The pair was walking through a heavily wooded forest on the edge of the palace's property. Normally Towa would be able to navigate their way through the forest with ease, but with the thorns of Despair growing so rapidly it was nearly impossible to see the clearing.

"I know Towa-chi but I just can't shake the feeling that something really bad is nearby."

Towa stopped their pace to look at Kirara. "Kirara... What will we do?" Her voice was full of fear. "I've tried so much to make up for my sins, but they're still chasing me. I hurt the people I love so much, and now Dyspear has my brother. If Haruka's feelings aren't enough to save him, then what can we do?"

Kirara took Towa's hands in her own. "Then we'll fight, Towa-chi." Kirara had a look of determination in her eyes so strong the flame princess couldn't help but blush. "We fought to save you from Dyspear and we'll fight again to save your brother if we have to. We were granted this power because we would use it correctly, and Flora showed us earlier that we still have it. Any doubt that you've ever had, any sins you ever committed as Twilight, I'm sure it's all been forgiven by the good you've done for the universe. You're an amazing person, Towa-chi." Kirara kissed the back of Towa's hand.

Towa smiled and sighed, relaxing into the embrace. "You always know just what to say, my star."

Kirara laughed. "Well hey, I try my best. I can't just sit by and let my girlfriend feel despair. What if Shut still has a thing for you? How could I ever compete with his makeup skills?"

Towa stifled a laugh at her girlfriend's dramatics. "Shh, Kirara, you know no one in the kingdom knows about us. Relationships like ours are more acceptable in your world, but I have no idea how people here would react to…"

"To this?" Kirara surprised her princess with a peck on the lips, causing her to blush a deep scarlet.

"Y-yes, Kirara! To that," she cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "B-but we should keep moving. We're only a few feet from the exit."

"Anything you say, my princess," Kirara winked at her girlfriend and skipped a few yards in front of her, exiting the forest.

Towa laughed and jogged after her. "My lovely star, wait for me! I must protect my love from… fr-from-" the princess stopped her sentence short when she saw the slender and ghostly pale woman. She took her place next to Kirara and squared her shoulders, ready for confrontation.

"Now just why are you two women acting so lovey-dovey toward each other?" Yami questioned, her tone full of disgust. "Princess Towa, I'm sure your brother would be extremely disappointed in you."

Towa became as pale as a sheet and took Kirara's hand for support. "S-she- Kirara and I are-"

"As the next Queen of Hope Kingdom I cannot allow this abomination to continue," Yami stated, a black lock materializing in her palm.

"You'll be queen over my dead body!" Kirara boldly shouted stepping toward the woman.

Yami chuckled. "That can be arranged." She threw the lock at a tree that had fallen in the forest. The tree grew until it was several times its previous size. Its new eyes were a wrathful red and its hands were covered in large thorns. "Take care of these two, Zetsuborg," Yami declared before vanishing from the scene.

"Towa-chi!" She turned toward the model, her red eyes full of fear. Kirara nodded, holding up her dress up key and perfume.

"C-can we still…"

"Flora transformed earlier for fun, I'm sure we can transform now to beat this monster."

Towa's fear filled expression changed to one of determination. "Yeah!"

The two warriors took the perfumes in their hands. "Precure! Princess Engage!" In perfect symmetry, they sprayed themselves from head to toe with the magical perfume; transforming into the warriors of legend.

"Princess of the twinkling star, Cure Twinkle!"

"Princess of the true crimson flames, Cure Scarlet!" The red precure reached her hand out toward the monster. "Please, prepare yourself!"

OuOuOuO

Minami looked at her watch, even though she knew it had only been two minutes since she last checked it. "I don't know, Yui. It's really not like either of them to be late like this."

The author only nodded, her eyes downcast. Both the blue haired girls' heads snapped up at the sound of an explosion from far in the distance.

"It can't be... " Yui whispered. She turned to Minami, but she was already running toward the danger. "Minami!" Minami stopped in her tracks and turned back to Yui. "What about Haruka? What if she's in danger?"

The princess of the sea only smiled. "Have faith in Haruka, Yui. She's been right almost every time before." She then returned to the task at hand.

Yui ran after Minami and into the fight, as she had dozens of times before. Even if she could only be a spectator and cheer them on, she never felt right abandoning her friends when they were in trouble. The two only ran a for a few minutes until Yui caught up with Minami. The marine veterinarian gazed in horror at the person in front of her.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it, Cure Mermaid?" Close sneered, his teeth in a spiky grin.

"Close!" The two shouted together. They both knew that if Close was here that Dyspear was not far behind.

"Minami!" Yui nodded at her friend.

"Right!" The warrior raised up her dress up key while the perfume materialized in her hand. "Precure! Princess Engage!" She sprayed herself with the glittering blue perfume, her clothes disappearing into the waterfall of her transformation. As she placed the golden crown on her head, her hair formed into a bubble. She flipped back, releasing her long blue hair, completing her transformation.

"The princess of the crystal clear seas! Cure Mermaid!"

Yui stepped back several feet from the fight that was sure the ensue. She kept moving backwards until Close's plan hit her.

"Mermaid! You can't waste your time here!" Another explosion went off only half a mile away.

She turned to face Yui. "What do you mean?"

"It's a trap! He just wants to distract you long enough so Twinkle and Scarlet are defeated. You have to go help them!"

"But what about you?"

Yui frowned, her hand clutching around her dress up key that was still in her pocket. "I-I'll think of something to distract him. Just go!"

Cure Mermaid smiled at the author. "I'm very proud of you, Yui." She jumped off toward the fight.

Close chuckled. "Hm, and what do you expect to do, reject Precure?"

Yui trembled with fear. As a mere human, she knew she could never match the physical and magical strength of a Precure. "I-I don't know!"

Close stiffened at her words, clearly confused. "You don't know?"

"T-that's right! I don't know!" She opened her deep purple eyes and looked at her foe. "All I know is my friends need help! And if that means you have to lock away my dream a thousand times in order for me to help them, then you can lock it away as many times as you want- and I'll take it back every single time! My dream is to be a picture book author. My dream is for my friends' dreams to come true. And there's nothing I will let you do to stop my dream!"

A blinding purple light shone around Yui. Her clay dress up key floated in front of her, shining brightly until a key came from the bottom of it. The new key shone so brightly that it would have been nearly impossible to distinguish it from the handmade key it was before. The wind blowing fiercely around her, Yui gently took the new key into her hands. "N-no way…" she whispered. As a perfume appeared in her opposite hand her expression changed from of bewilderment to one of determination.

"Precure! Princess Engage!" The new warrior smoothly inserted her key into the perfume, the bottle filling with a glimmering indigo liquid. Her glasses disappeared into sparkles and she sprayed the perfume around herself and spun around, the perfume following her in a swirl of magic. Long white gloves with purple cuffs at her forearms ran down to her fingertips. Knee length white boots emerged from the glittering perfume with purple details at the knees and heel.

A crescent moon spun until it reached just below her navel, light from it flowed to her collarbone and all the way down her body until it flared out well past her hips. The light exploded off her body, revealing the deep purple collar of her dress. The deep purple was interrupted by white fabric and an orange ribbon on her bust. The dress changed to a light lavender after that point, until it flared out into dark purple coat tails. A violet underskirt was under the main dress, white bullets in the fabric clearly accentuated the underskirt from the rest of the outfit. A pleated periwinkle skirt peaked out from the violent underskirt, completing the dress.

Spraying the perfume in a swirl again, a golden crown with a blue gem came into existence. She placed the crown on her head, her braids becoming much longer and gaining a deep lavender to light magenta ombre. Thin gold circles floated over the edge of her braids. Wisps of white hair near her forehead blew out of her face as she opened her eyes, a gold crescent moon passed over her pupils.

The princess moved her wrist as though she were swiping a paintbrush in the air. She flicked her wrist outward in a release of rainbow sparkles.

"Princess of the world's beauty! Cure Masterpiece!"

Cure Masterpiece spun around in obvious glee, admiring her new form.

"There's a FIFTH one now?! You have got to be kidding me!" Close threw his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"That's right!" Masterpiece brushed her bangs out of her face. "Now, please prepare yourself!" She reached her hand out toward her foe, ready for her first battle. Close charged head first at the princess of art. She expertly glided around her opponent and pulled his arm behind his back. She pressed her palm into his back and ejected him yards away from her with a gust of purple smoke.

Even though it had beens years, Close was just as determined as ever to not lose to the Precure. He bounced back almost as quickly as he was sent away, but Masterpiece was ready. She expertly dodged every single on his punches until she caught his wrist and threw him into the air. She joined him in the air only to kick him down into the ground below them.

Close stood shakily. "How… Why are you so strong? Why do you even exist?!"

Cure Masterpiece chuckled. "To be quite honest, I don't really know myself. But better late than never, right?" Close only stared at her in disgust.

"Exchange! Mode Elegant!" Cure Masterpiece inserted her key once again into her perfume. She sprayed the indigo perfume in a swirl around her body. Her violet underskirt became a long ball gown with periwinkle ruffles decorating the bottom. She took the coattails of the dress in hand and curtseyed to her opponent before bringing her hands in front of her in a praying pose. In a fluid motion, she swung her elbows back so her palms were parallel with her shoulders and facing her opponent. She crossed her wrists as she fully extended her arms.

"Precure! Masterpiece Tornado!" A powerful force of indigo wind blew toward Close, fully enveloping him in a strong and inescapable swirl.

"Agh!" Close choked. "I-I don't have time for this! I have a wedding to prepare for!" He vanished from the attack completely. The remaining purple wind gently blew around Masterpiece's feet.

"Have a nice day," she said calmly as she stared off in the distance. Her ballgown vanished in an array of purple light.

"Masterpiece!" She turned just in time to see the other Precure before they hugged her tightly.

"Everyone," she breathed and hugged them back.

"We're so proud of you! I knew you'd become a Precure someday," Cure Scarlet said after the embrace was ended.

"Thanks, I was beginning to lose faith, myself." Masterpiece rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"But you did it! And you totally sent Close running for the hills," Twinkle patted the newly minted Precure on the back.

"You really think so?" The purple princess blushed. "Wait, then were you all watching this whole time?"

"Well, not the whole time. When Mermaid got to the fight we pretty much had the whole thing wrapped up. We figured you'd need saving, but we came back just in time to see you kick Close's butt," Twinkle laughed.

"You did very well, Masterpiece," Mermaid congratulated her. "But the fight isn't over yet. Close still believes there's going to be a wedding." All the cures looked to Scarlet.

"We shall not allow that to happen. There is only one women fit to marry my brother and that's Haruka."

"Maybe they should start with a few dates first," Twinkle smiled nervously at her girlfriend's forwardness.

"Let's search for Haruka as a group this time," Mermaid suggested.

"Mm, that's just what I was going to say," Scarlet agreed. "It will be sundown in less than an hour. Dyspear must have Haruka trapped somewhere. If she hasn't freed herself by now she definitely needs our help."

"Right!" The remaining four said together. They ran off toward the palace on a mission to save their friend.

OuOuOuO

Despite the fact that she knew she had to find someway to escape her prison cell, all Haruka could do was cry. She hadn't felt this hopeless since Kanata told her she shouldn't become a princess. And now that Yui told her she had completed her dream and became a princess, Haruka wasn't even sure of what she had to dream of any more. She knew that hope and despair always followed each other in circles, but by crushing Kanata's dream she felt that she had broken that circle. She was trapped in a tunnel with no light at the end of it. And it was all her fault for crushing the dream of the man she loved.

"Why did I even confess to him? I don't deserve him after hurting him so badly," the flower princess wiped her eyes. She remembered Kanata's face after she confessed her love for him.

"H-he looked so happy," she blushed, her hand went to the spot on her neck where he had kissed her. "He said he loved me, too. And he looked to happy when he said so." She laughed a little and rose to her feet.

"Towa told me that today was the most she'd seen him smile in over a month. She read his journal, so she has to know truly how much he'd been thinking about me. After he told me I couldn't become a princess, he made my smile his new dream. So…"

She smiled widely and aimed her dress up key so it reflected the small amount of light that was in the room. "It's my duty as the woman he loves to protect his smile. If I'm doing such a good job being a princess… then… I want to become someone worthy enough of being Kanata's princess. I can't think of any more noble of a cause to fight for. My new dream is… to protect Kanata's smile!"

Haruka smiled at her pink dress up key before inserting it into the perfume. "Precure! Princess Engage!" She shouted as the bottle filled with the shimmering pink essence. She sprayed herself with the perfume and transformed into the legendary warrior.

"Princess of the flowers, blooming in full glory! Cure Flora!"

The princess kicked the bars of her cell out and ran up the stairs and out of the dungeon. She had just enough time to see the sun beginning to set out of a large window in the castle foyer before being attacked by dozens of guards. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact, but it never came. She opened her eyes to see her friends holding back all of the guards.

"Y-Yui? You transformed!"

Masterpiece smiled as she dodged a guard's spear. "Mm, I've finally become a Precure. Cure Masterpiece."

Flora looked at her former roommate in awe. "Masterpiece…"

"Flora!" Scarlet called out. "The wedding will be starting soon. It will be held at the very edge of the castle grounds. Go on ahead of us, we can meet you over there!"

"Are you sure?" Flora questioned as she blocked punches of a guard.

"We would be a little shorthanded, but thanks to Masterpiece we'll be alright," Twinkle chimed in.

"We'll be there as soon as we can, just go," Mermaid advised.

"Right!" Flora dodged a final punch before running past all of the guards toward the front door of the palace. "I have a wedding to stop!"

OuOuOuO

This chapter took so long. I'm so sorry but life kept getting in the way. My friend reminded me that I'm writing this for fun and to not feel so pressured and that helped me out a lot. I'm really happy with this chapter. Big things are coming so ya know stay tuned and I'll try to have the next chapter out within a month haha.

Credit to tumblr user notengotumbrl for Yui's Precure design. Follow the link to check it out, I hope I captured it well.

. /4a8633a82f121679c7797b55794ba53e/tumblr_inline_o27380Tbz61r2l51p_


	10. Chapter 10

Cure Flora ran as fast as she could to the end of the palace grounds. What would normally be a beautiful sunset was covered by heavy black clouds, and even though it was nearly June the air was strangely cold. All of the trees she passed that would normally be in full bloom were covered from top to bottom in heavy thorns. The warrior barely noticed the decrepit scenery surrounding her- her mind was too focused on achieving her goal to barely register her environment. Every Zetsuborg she encountered on her way was immediately obliterated in a flash of rose and lily petals. The princess continued her race against time, holding the Crystal Princess Rod tightly in her right hand.

 _The ceremony was supposed to start at sunset, right?_ She thought to herself. _How long do weddings even take any way? I_ have _to make it in time!_

Another Zetsuborg blocked her path. "UUUURGH get out of the way!" She roared as she sent a fist right in the monster's face. "Precure, Lys Tourbillon!" She pointed her weapon at the creature and only continued running as soon as the attack was finished, the flower petals trailing behind her.

Then she saw it. Just on the next hill, right in front of the golden palace gates, was an unmistakably large gathering. Judging from the amount of people still there, Flora knew that she would be arriving just in time. With the end of her journey in sight, and filled with even more determination than before, Flora ran to the very top of the hill.

The men guarding the ceremony noticed the pink warrior and tried to stop her as she made her way up the hill, but their power was weak to that of the Precure's. She pushed them aside with ease and finally arrived at the large fence that encircled the ceremony. The wedding guests remained in their seats, most likely brainwashed by Dsypear into attending the ceremony and not being disruptive.

Flora panted, now that she had reached her destination and, momentarily, had no more monsters to fight, she could finally catch her breath. But suddenly, all of that sadness and despair she had felt for Kanata manifested itself into pure rage. She spin kicked the iron gate down and slowly made her way down the aisle, black rose petals at her feet. Flora had never felt as violent in her entire life. For anyone to interfere with the peace of Hope Kingdom was unforgivable. But for anyone to toy with Kanata's emotions as she did was absolutely vicious to do.

Cure Flora pointed a gloved finger at the woman. She was wearing a jet black dress, the train pooled around her feet like a puddle of ink. Her hair sat in a bun atop her head so only the crimson red parts of it were visible. A black veil covered her face.

" **Dyspear!** " Flora roared, holding herself back from charging fist first at the woman. "What you have done to the people of Hope Kingdom, what you have done to Prince Kanata, is absolutely unforgivable! Stop what you are doing this instant and release him and everyone else here from your trance!"

"Flora…" Kanata whispered. He looked at her with red violet eyes entirely full of sorrow. His signature white clothing had been switched for a pitch black suit. The coattails of his jacket faded from black to a dark purple. Dark gray feathers surrounded his collar. Clearly, his outfit was designed to match that of his bride.

The woman standing next to him only laughed a low, dark chuckle. "But why demand that I undo whatever spell I have casted, when all of this is your fault in the first place for not telling the prince your true feelings?"

Flora only shook her head. She wouldn't allow herself to fall for Dyspear's tricks, there was too much at stake this time to even think about listening to her. Besides, she had learned from her mistakes.

"I may not be able to change the past and tell Kanata my true feelings before any of this happened, but I can change right now!" Flora walked forward, approaching the couple. A pink light surrounded her, almost like a shield protecting her from despair itself. Golden sparkles flew off of her when she was only three feet from them. "I am in love with Prince Hope Grand Kanata, and I have been ever since I was thirteen years old. I may not have been brave enough to say it then, but I sure as hell am now. I'm brave enough to stand by his side as queen of Hope Kingdom. And I'm brave enough to save this entire kingdom again and protect Kanata's smile for the rest of my life, because THAT is my new dream!" The light surrounding Flora broke away in an array of pink sparkles, revealing the transformation of the shorter version of her Grand Princess dress.

Cure Flora lunged forward to plant her fist squarely across Dyspear's face, but her blow was intercepted by a ghostly white hand.

"Precure…" she said slowly, her voice dripping with hatred. The ground began to shake beneath them. "Can't you see that it's already too late for you? It's already too late for you all!"

Hundreds of thorn branches rose from the ground, destroying the pure green grass of the hill. All of the wedding guests were immediately trapped in cages of despair and dozens of Zetsuborgs took their places. Flora had no choice but to jump back in order to avoid being impaled by the thorns.

Princess Yami let out a blood curdling scream as she grew taller and taller, revealing her true form as the witch Dyspear. "Now do you see, Precure? I've been feeding off of this man's despair from the moment you two parted ways six years ago. Not even a Grand Princess has the power to break this spell."

Flora gritted her teeth, eyes searching desperately for Kanata. "Kanata! Kanata can you hear me? Kanata!" She called, until she spotted him in a cage of thorns similar to the one Dyspear had used to trap Towa so long ago. Even though her first instinct was to immediately run to the man she loved and do anything she could to free him, she knew she had to take down Dyspear and save the citizens of Hope Kingdom.

A Zetsuborg she hadn't noticed snuck up behind Cure Flora and was just about to plunge its foot down on her. Flora ducked and covered her head, but was relieved to see her friends readily protecting her.

"Twinkle! Scarlet!" They, too, had transformed into shorter versions of their Grand Princess dresses that were much more appropriate for fighting than the long and heavy ball gowns. The two lifted the Zetsuborg into the air. She rose her head just in time to see Mermaid land a punch on the monster so hard, it flew out of sight. The princess of the seas joined the Grand Princesses in front of the jungle of thorns. Masterpiece, still in her regular outfit, grinned sheepishly at them.

"I guess since I'm new to this Precure thing I can't join you guys as Grand Princesses yet, huh?" She rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm sure you can take lessons from Miss Shamour later, Masterpiece," Mermaid assured her. "But for now…" she looked at the terrifying sight that stood before them.

"For now we have to beat Dyspear back to where she came from!" Flora yelled, and jumped again to attack Dyspear.

The other Precure focused their attention on defeating the Zetsuborgs. They didn't feel it was right to help Flora in her fight with Dyspear; this wasn't just about defending Hope Kingdom for Flora. This was personal.

But try as she might, Flora wasn't making very much progress on defeating Dyspear. And to add insult to injury, Dyspear wasn't even fighting back. Flora landed attack after attack and punch after punch on the queen of despair, but it had little to no effect. All she knew was she had to think of some way to defeat her and free Kanata from this trance as soon as possible. When Dyspear had taken Towa last time it was the power of the song she shared with Kanata that set her free. But what on Earth could Flora do this time to save him? She let out a frustrated scream as she continued to knock Dyspear down with attacks from her spear.

While they could have freed the citizens of Hope Kingdom from the cages of despair immediately after defeating a Zetsuborg, they all knew they would be much safer if they were kept out of the fight. The princesses had nearly defeated all of the monsters when a hideously shrill roar filled the air.

The noise was so jarring that all the Precure stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction that it came from. The warriors could do nothing but stare in awe and in horror at the new challenge that was approaching them.

"N-no way…" Masterpiece whispered, her grip on her own Crystal Princess Rod tightened.

"How is that even possible? Didn't we…?" Scarlet's question trailed off.

Flora fell to the ground to join her comrades. "No, I saw them earlier. It's definitely them." She eyed the new monster with determination. "Stop and Freeze have returned."

And the twins had taken on a terrifying new form. As one head breathed fire on the thorns of despair, the other one froze them in ice. It was almost like watching a monster right out of Greek mythology. However, this was no fable. Stop and Freeze were now fused together into the form of a two-headed dragon, nearly as tall as Dyspear herself.

"Fools," Dyspear's deep voice called through the air. "Do you see now just how much despair I was able to gather from one man? Now my new creation shall finish you off."

Wasting no time, Scarlet fired a Scarlet Spark at the dreadful monster, but to no avail. The attack bounced off of the dragon's scales like it was nothing.

"Fire cannot hurt a dragon…" Twinkle whispered in a petrified awe.

"How are we supposed to fight this… this thing?" Mermaid asked no one in particular. "If it can breathe both fire and ice, doesn't that counter all of our attacks?"

"Not at all," Twinkle said, nudging Masterpiece playfully. The Music Princess Palace appeared in front of the star princess.

"Oh! I see!" Yui nodded in understanding.

"Galaxy!" Twinkle put her key into the middle slot of the palace. "Shalala! Galaxy! Precure, Galaxy chorus!"

Masterpiece followed suit, putting her own gradient key into the weapon. "Typhoon! Cry, oh winds! Precure, Masterpiece typhoon!"

Hundreds of shooting stars powered by extremely strong wind and rain flew right into the dragon. The young women definitely knew they wounded the creature as it let out another ear piercing roar. But the dragon of despair would not be stopped there. The giant creature spread its wings, covering the darkening sky in complete blackness. The Precure expected the dragon to fire an attack at the five of them, but the dragon instead aimed for one small spot on Dyspear. They all turned just in time to hear Flora cry out in pain.

"Flora?!" They all said together.

"How the heck did she get over there? She was right behind us this whole time," Twinkle said what everyone else was thinking.

"She must have left when we first started attacking it to go and fight Dyspear herself," Masterpiece noted.

"Who cares how she got there, we need to help her!" Towa leapt toward her friend. When she reached Flora she had fallen onto a fallen and thornless tree. Her Grand Princess transformation broke around her. Scarlet knelt beside her.

"Scarlet…" Flora breathed as she slowly opened her eyes. She was covered in cuts and bruises. "How can we beat her? She's so much stronger this time. There's no way…" The flower princess trailed off, tears threatening to spill out the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, Flora," Scarlet sadly sighed. "This is all my fault. If only I had gotten you involved sooner, if only our worlds didn't have to be separated. Then none of this would have ever happened. I had no idea just how far into despair my brother had sunken. I'm so so sorry, Flora."

Flora sat up. "Don't blame yourself, Scarlet. You couldn't have possibly known just how bad it really was. All we can do now is try to figure out a way to beat them." The flower princess shakily stood, taking her friend's hand for support. They nodded at each other and jumped together at Dyspear, flowers and flames intertwining.

They were about fifty feet up when Scarlet spied her brother, trapped in a cage of thorns. "What do you call this feeling… deja vu? Yes, that sounds about right." Then the princess of Hope's eyes brightened. "Flora!" She called. Her comrade was up about twenty feet higher, trying to knock Dyspear down even just a little bit.

"What?" She shouted back, not letting up on her attacks, even if she was in a less powerful form.

"In your fairy tales, how does the prince break the spell and save the princess?"

"Scarlet, this really isn't the time for-"

"Flora just listen to me! How does the prince break the spell and save his true love?!"

The flower princess's eyes widened. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Scarlet I can't do that now, not here, not like this! I-I'm not ready!" She shouted to the flame princess, trying to find a different solution.

"God damn it, Flora, do you want to save him or not?" Scarlet covered her mouth, surprising even herself with her language. "What could you possibly have to lose?"

Cure Flora sighed and whispered to herself: "it's definitely not that I don't want to I'm just… scared." Then she smiled and laughed at herself. "But hey, what do I have to lose right?" She gently floated down to the ground, to the cage of thorns from which the prince hadn't moved from.

Kanata's staffed magically appeared in his hand. He pointed it directly at the Flower Princess. "Cure Flora, do not take one step closer!"

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Okay." Her transformation completely dissolved around her, pink petals blowing in the air around them. Tentatively, she walked through a gap in the thorn cage toward the prince.

"W-what are you doing? I will have you banished for destroying my wedding. Executed!"

"Kanata... I have come so far to find you. I know your dream. She has stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you." Haruno Haruka continued her slow march toward the prince. He still pointed his weapon at her, but instead of firing he only backed farther against the cage. "This is not who you are." She reached out and gently took hold of his wrist, making him lower his staff. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his stayed at his sides. She looked him right in the eyes. "You know who you are. Who you truly are."

Tears rolled down the prince's cheeks, all traces of red leaving his eyes. "Haruka… this is all my fault." He hugged the flower princess tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Haruka smiled up at Kanata. "There's no need." After years of waiting, she lifted her lips up to meet his in a soft kiss. He returned the kiss without hesitation, pulling her even closer to him. The two pulled apart to watch the thorns vanish around them. From the top of the hill they could nearly see the entire Kingdom be freed from Dyspear's carnage.

"Hmm try as you might, but despair will always be waiting for you. I will return." Dyspear shrunk and withered until she was nothing more than a dried up rose with a stem covered in thorns.

Just as Cure Mermaid fired an Ice Ripple at the dragon that was Stop and Freeze, it too disappeared; becoming nothing more than a two headed salamander.

Kanata looked down to his true love, placing his hand on her cheek as his other wrapped around her waist. "Haruka, thank you for everything you have done, again. I am so irresponsible for letting this get so out of hand."

She leaned her cheek into his warm hand. "No no, not at all you're-"

"You're stubborn! Onii-sama if you had only listened to me MONTHS ago this entire situation could have been avoided. I said from the moment an arranged marriage was brought up 'oh, what about Haruka?' but you wouldn't have it! And now here we are, after fighting our toughest enemy yet, and you say you were _irresponsible_? Onii-sama, no, you were not only irresponsible, but stubborn." Scarlet marched toward the couple, her transformation disappearing once she reached them. The others released their transformations and joined them as well, Kirara taking her place beside Towa. Kirara giggled, she knew Kanata had this lecturing coming to him.

The prince's face turned red with embarrassment. He had never received such a reprimanding from his sister before. "T-towa, I explained to you many times-"

"No, Onii-sama I explained to YOU many times! And where are we now? You're holding hands with Haruka after just kissing her after we just defeated Dyspear AGAIN. Honestly, I know it's inappropriate of me to be scolding you like this, but if you have so many people who care for you telling you to marry the woman you love, for God's sake just do it!"

"But the interdimensional rules, Towa…" He trailed off.

"Forget the interdimensional rules!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "Do you know that I've been engaging in the Skyping with Kirara, even though she has been in Paris and I have stayed here? I've even visited her on several special occasions! Because we- b-because we um" Her face flushed and she averted her gaze to the ground.

"Because we're in love," Kirara finished. "And Towachi has been keeping it a secret from your entire kingdom because she was afraid. Afraid of punishment for breaking the rules and afraid of being shunned for loving another woman."

"Onii-sama, I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I just didn't know how you would react. I am sincerely sorry for keeping this from you but… but I do not for one moment apologize for my relationship with Kirara."

Kanata smiled at his sister and her partner. "No, Towa, I am the one who should apologize. Whatever I did to make you feel like you needed to hide such happiness from me for so long must have been very drastic. And I am sorry."

The flame princess looked at her brother with wide eyes. "N-no, you did nothing at all! I-I just…" she jumped forward and hugged her brother, tears falling from her eyes. "I was just so worried about being accepted by you and mother and father and so afraid of what might happen since I traveled across worlds so many times." Towa pulled back from the hug and took her place next to her girlfriend.

"I will always love you and accept you, no matter who you love-"

"Yeah and she still loved and accepted you when you were about to marry Dyspear" Kirara joked. Kanata just smiled.

"But about the interdimensional travelling, we'll have to talk to Miss Shamour about the risks that it poses-"

"Oh, Onii-sama I am right ahead of you with that. There's a scientist on Earth, Mr. Sanchez I believe, who has developed a device for such purposes. He's been using it for decades with no side effects. I have a meeting scheduled with Miss Shamour to demonstrate the machine to her."

The prince chuckled. "Well then, that takes care of all my qualms about your relationship. I'm so happy you have found happiness, Towa. And thank you for bringing Haruka here, so I could find mine." He looked at his flower princess lovingly.

Kirara lifted Towa into the air and spun her around, squeals of delight coming from both of them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but…" Minami interjected quietly. "If Yui and I are no longer needed, I do believe we would like to go back home. We both have quite a bit of work to get to." Yui nodded in agreement.

"Oh yes, my apologies. Pafu or Aroma should be waiting in the foyer. Tell them of your situation and they will gladly escort you home."

They curtseyed to the prince and walked off.

Haruka smiled at her prince. "Well, I suppose we should tell your parents of today's events."

He smiled back at her. "My father has been receiving treatment in a neighboring Kingdom and my mother has been by his side every step of the way. They won't be returning until the day after tomorrow."

"O-oh," Haruka blushed, her mind starting to wonder. "Then what should we do now? It seems Towa and Kirara are off having fun."

Kanata looked back toward the palace. "Actually, there's somewhere I've been dying to show you."

OuOuOuO

Haruka found her way to the giant cherry blossom tree Kanata had given her directions to. He would have accompanied her, but he let his walls down and told her he really wanted to change out of the suit Dyspear had forced him into. They both agreed white was a much better color for him.

Haruka looked up at the cherry blossom tree and smiled. Out of every flower she had ever seen, cherry blossoms always had a special place in her heart.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" His calm voice pulled Haruka from her thoughts.

"Mm, very. I can tell you spend a lot of time here."

"Yes. You see, this is an enchanted cherry tree. It's in bloom all year round. It's always there for me when I need it most. And whenever I come here, my thoughts are always filled with you, Haruka." He knelt to the ground and took a small wooden box out of his pocket. Haruka could only gasp. "Haruka, I know you have dreams and goals to achieve in the human world, but I know now that life without you only brings a sadness that I would never wish on my greatest enemy. I almost lost you once, and I can't bear the thought that that could ever happen again. I love you, Haruno Haruka, with all of who I am. I don't care how long it takes, but I will do anything to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you please marry me?" He opened the small box to reveal a gold ring with a small diamond carved in the shape of a heart.

"Oh, Kanata…" she wiped tears out of the corner of her eyes. "Yes, I will absolutely marry you."

The prince rose to his feet and kissed his princess with no reservations. This time it was Haruka who ended the kiss.

"However, if you thought fighting against Dyspear was challenging, we will soon have to face another obstacle."

He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "With you, my flower, anything is possible."

"Really?" She questioned. "Even telling my parents?"

OuOuOuOuOu

Wellllll hello everybody haha...ha.

I know it's been almost six months since the last update and I can honestly say I've thought about updating this story almost every day. So many unpredictable things have happened to me in this past six months. I had to leave school because I couldn't afford it and I've been working very hard since then to save up enough money to go back. And for the first time in like two years I have a girlfriend. They make me so happy and feel so loved and complete, I'm so happy I met them.

The next chapter will be purely fluff because tbh I think we need it after all this drama. Thank you all so much for staying with me, even though I really probably didn't deserve it. This next chapter will be much easier to write. This one I wanted to make sure lived up to everything I wanted it to be and I think it did for the most part. Thank you all so much for reading and sticking with this story.

Love,

Michaela


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